Tangerine
by ticklethesky
Summary: 1981. Jackie and Hyde make decisions that will lead their fates together for the last time. CHAPER 6 UP NOW!
1. Winter

**Author's Note:** So this is my first story and I am going to start with a JH story! I would just like to warn you before hand that I will be adding on to chapters all the time, so make sure to check the last chapter you just read before reading the next one. I am deciding here and now to put a symbol at the end of each chapter meaning it is COMPLETELY over! Hmm... that will be : To be Continued... haha, got yah there didn't I! Anyways, this story should be pretty much my very own catharsis so it will most likely end happy, but that does NOT mean it will for sure. I would love reviews, and I got the nicest first review from the member Pylea, so I'd like to thank them! This story is going to have a lot of great songs, especially by Led Zeppelin, so I advise you listen to them to get a feeling of the story! Anyways, I hope you enjoy the trip with me, and do not worry, I will not be taking forever to update chapters. I am an addict to something once I start, and don't take that as some sort of drug innuendo haha. What I mean is that I will probably be on here writing and updating as much as possible! Yes, I have homework and I am in an intense Humanities program with LOTS of it. But I much prefer a world where I enjoy things than a world where I am forced to write 49 page essays. Okay, over exaggeration but still! Anyways, enough of my online rant...

**Winter**

The bare limbs of the trees swayed slightly in the breeze as small, white tufts of snow began to sprinkle down all over the road. Soon enough, the ground was completely white and the juxtaposition between the indigo color of the sky and the ground made Jackie smile. Her eyes saddened in remembrance of all the winters she had spent whispering sweet words into Steven's ears. They had laid locked in a tight embrace on his cot, their faces turned in towards each others, his intense blue eyes burning a whole into her mismatched ones. Her small hand laid on his chest as his fingers slowly brushed up and down the side of her face, smoothing the hair away. No words were spoken except for her tiny fragments of speech, cut off when he would lightly lay a kiss on her lips.

How could I have lost that? she thought. Those were the winters when her and Steven would seek comfort in each other's warmth. She would hum his favorite songs to him, lulling him to sleep to the sound of "The Rain Song" as he thought about the beautiful girl he held in his arms.

_**I've felt the coldness of my winter**_

_**I never thought it would ever go.**_

_**I cursed the gloom that set upon us...**_

_**But I know that I love you so**_

_**These are the seasons of emotion and like the winds they rise and fall**_

_**This is the wonder of devotion - I seek the torch we all must hold.**_

_**This is the mystery of the quotient - Upon us all a little rain must fall**_

_**It's just a little rain...**_

It was nights like these that she cherished — the nights when he chose her comfort over something more physical. She would play with his hair, twirling his tight curls around her fingertips. She liked it when he found solace in her, instead of turning to someone else as he would do to her in the future. When he would sigh, she would close her eyes in ecstasy as his breath tickled her neck. Those were the sweetest days — the days when she didn't have a care in the world except to keep her baby safe.

But now nothing was the same. As Jackie's heels clicked up the Forman driveway, she felt the foreboding feelings he always felt. Her stomach was knotted in anxiety and her heart flew up into her throat. She was tired of having to face him but she had nowhere else to go.

Abandonment was a thing Jackie had learned, and she had thought Steven Hyde had been taught a little something about it too. After all, he had complained to her, only in private, about how it felt to have lost everyone. It just didn't seem right to her that he could turn around and do the same to her. But maybe it was to be expected because that's how he was raised.

She shook her head in disappointment at herself. She had been able to keep him from his thoughts for larger amounts of time in the past few weeks, so why was he invading her thoughts now? Maybe it was the comfort she sought as she pulled her warm coat tighter around her, but still it wasn't enough. She remembered one Christmas, the Christmas she held really close to her heart as one of the best ones she'd ended up having.

_Hyde sat with his back up against the arm of the couch and his legs spread out in front of him. A goofy smile played on his lips as he lasciviously clapped his hands while watching the girl of his dreams dance to the cheery Christmas music that he normally loathed._

_Jackie was in her tight little cheerleading outfit, his favorite one. She danced around happily, kicking her legs up and giving him a view he definitely appreciated. She was having fun with herself, and she could see that naughty glint in her Puddin Pop's eyes._

_She finished her dance and dropped down into the lap of her baby, bringing her hands up to cup his face and kiss him. A small smile played around her lips as he delicately dipped his tongue into her mouth, searching for her return of the gesture._

_Jackie pulled away quickly and a disappointed frown fell onto Hyde's face. But Jackie's smile never left her face._

_"Come on, Jackie…" Steven pleaded._

_"Just wait, baby." Jackie put her finger up against Steven's lips until he remained quiet and put a determined look onto his face. He was going to have her tonight, whether she liked it or not._

_"Come here…" she whispered as she lightly hooked her finger into the neck of Steven's Led Zeppelin shirt until he stood up with his hands already reaching out to catch her waist._

_"Not yet Puddin Pop!" she squealed in delight. Her plan was working. He was completely rapt with her and she could do as she liked. Not that he wouldn't like what she was about to do._

_She guided him back into the small room under the stairs, the room that had been his for the past few years. When he looked inside, he noticed that there were candles around and his bed had been made up into the cocoon his nut of a girlfriend had once spent hours on decorating for him. God he loved that thing. And his girl._

_She pushed him back onto the bed and he crossed his arms behind his head to enjoy the show he thought was going to get. Instead, she walked over to his record player and bent over to pick up the black milk crate that held all of his records. He immediately scooted backwards and brought his head up so he could get a few of her skirt lifting up from behind. He was immediately turned on and had to adjust his pants a few times before Jackie got up._

_She was completely obviously to the whistle that he let out — or so he thought, because Jackie's face held a satisfied grin while her back was turned to him. She began sifting through the records until she found the perfect one: Led Zeppelin IV._

_One of the lyrics to the most beautiful songs Jackie had ever heard, surprisingly from Steven's music, began to play over the stereo._

**Spent my days with a woman unkind,**

**Smoked my stuff and drank all my wine.**

**Made up my mind to make a new start,**

**Going to California with an aching in my heart.**

_Jackie walked nervously back towards the bed and crawled up towards Steven. She sat with her knees on the bed, between Steven's feet, and motioned with her for him to stay there._

_She ran her hand through the front of her hair, fretting before finally deciding to just do it. She slowly ran her hands down her sides as Steven stared at her in awe. She slipped her hands under the bottom of the cheerleader sweater and began to pull up. Immediately his hands reached to help her, but she shooed them away sweetly._

**Someone told me there's a girl out there**

**With love in her eyes and flowers in her hair.**

**Took my chances on a big jet plane,**

**Never let them tell you that they're all the same.**

_Once again she continued to pull the sweater up until it went over her head and Steven disappeared from her view for a moment, only to once again appear with a face that she would call "star struck" even though she was no celebrity. She smiled sheepishly as she swayed her body to the slow rhythm of the music, his eyes on her every move._

**The sea was red and the sky was grey,**

**Wondered how tomorrow could ever follow today.**

**The mountains and the canyons started to tremble and shake**

**As the children of the sun began to awake.**

_Her hands moved from behind her head down to her waist, as she slowly shrugged her legs out of the skirt she was wearing, until it was at her feet and she lightly kicked it to the floor. From there, she sat in a beautiful garter belt and stockings, but not in any cheap fashion. Her was simple black and had small red bows and strings placed in all the right positions as adornment around the edge of the bottoms. She wore a matching bra on top that looked beautiful on, but Steven knew it would look even better off._

**Seems that the wrath of the gods**

**Got a punch on the nose and it started to flow;**

**I think I might be sinking.**

_After her cheerleading outfit had been successfully taken off of her body, she looked back up into Steven's eyes. He was in complete worship of her as she scooted closer and he ran his hands up her smooth thighs. She placed her hands on his shoulders and looked down into his eyes. God, she was in love with him. She moved her arms further across his shoulders until she could clasp her hands behind his had, and moved to sit down on his lap. She planted a light kiss on his lips and leaned back before he could have a chance to slip his tongue into her mouth and drive her crazy._

_"I love you, Steven." she whispered against his lips, staring straight into his eyes._

_"I love you too, Jackie."_

_She made an effort to not burst out in excitement and dance right there. Instead she simply nodded, knowing that if she pushed him further it would just ruin their night. His responses to her were few and far between, and she would whatever she could get from him._

**Throw me a line if I reach it in time**

**Ill meet you up there where the path**

**Runs straight and high.**

_The once again met with their lips, one of his hands slipping up into her hair. The other one traveled further south and reached around to give her rear end a slight squeeze, causing girly little giggles to erupt from her as she leaned back and watched the blissful smile that lay on Steven's face. He slowly and carefully reached his hands around her back to unclasp her bra. He pulled it down her shoulders and off of her arms, tossing it to the side. He immediately looked at where the bra had been, always amazed at her beauty. But once he was done staring, he looked back up at her face because that was his favorite part of her. The face that whispered all the words he loved. The face that played out all the emotions she was feeling. The face that held so much beauty she could outshine the sun._

**To find a queen without a king;**

**They say she plays guitar and cries and sings.**

_She put slipped his fingers into the sides of her garter belt and slowly slipped them down her legs, along with her stockings, until she sat there completely naked in front of him. By now she should have been completely unembarrassed to be naked around him, yet still she tried to cover her body up in front of him. He found her sheepish attempts to grab a pillow and hide her body adorable and quickly pulled the pillow away._

_"You're beautiful." She smiled at him and nodded, quickly forgetting about her insecurities. She decided that she should at least even out the playing field, so she quickly pulled his shirt over his head and unbuckled his belt, eventually pulling his jeans down his legs until he lay there only in his boxers. She put both her legs on either side of his hips and sat down directly on the hardness in the center of his body. Grinding her self seductively over it, she felt it stiffen even more until Steven was pulling her face down to kiss it feverishly. She slipped the boxers off of his legs and moved back up to her previous position._

**Ride a white mare in the footsteps of dawn**

**Tryin to find a woman who's never, never, never been born.**

_He put his hands lightly on her waist as she lifted up and he lined himself up to enter into her. She slipped back down over him, encasing his shaft fully inside of her. A soft moan escaped her and he nearly went wild with pleasure from just hearing her._

_"Steven…" she whispered and he was once again came closer to his completion. She started at a slow, romantic pace until she picked up and began rocking herself on him faster. Her whimpering grew faster and her breath steadily grew as well. He could feel that she was almost over the edge when he heard a sharp intake of breath and felt her muscles tighten and lightly shake around him. Her own pleasure immediately brought him over the edge as he let go inside of her. She fell over to her side, exhausted, and immediately cuddled up beside him._

_The record was long over and the needle continued to spin around the last indent on that side of the vinyl._

**Standing on a hill in my mountain of dreams,**

**Telling myself its not as hard, hard, hard as it seems.**

_He turned until he was on his back and she laid her head on his chest, pulling the sheets up over their naked bodies. They stayed their like that, playing with each other's hands until they both drifted off to sleep, hands grasped tightly in the others, only to be woken up in the morning to Mrs. Forman yelling, "Presents!"_

Jackie slid the Forman's glass door open and walked briskly into the Forman's kitchen, only stopping once to take in the delicious smell of cinnamon and pine. She moved forward into the living room and noticed all of her friends sitting around. All of them looked up at her fleetingly, smiling in greeting. The only one whose gaze lingered a little longer was Steven Hyde's, but when he was caught he returned his vacant eyes to the game of Monopoly being played on the floor in front of him.

Jackie sat down on the couch, squeezing in beside Donna and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath. It was another Christmas with her friends and him, except for one small change. There was a blonde girl Jackie had grown to detest sitting right on Steven's lap and it made Jackie's heart break again, knowing that this special holiday they had always loved to spend together, he was going to be watching another girl give him a special dance and end up sleeping the night of Christmas Eve with.

XxxxxxX

Hyde slipped the record out of its cover, a thousand memories slipping into his mind. One stood out in particular. One that happened here, with her, with this music on, on this same day two years ago. Hyde closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"What's the matter, baby?" For a second, Hyde thought it was her, there to ease him of his pain. She had told him she would always be there, when he did and didn't need her. But it wasn't her. She was long gone from being his. Instead it was the nagging voice of the girl who Hyde had knowingly let take Jackie's place. But she could never replace her. While Sam was the girl he saw in front of him, when he closed his eyes, images of Jackie danced around him. Her lithe smile, her beautiful hair bouncing around her shoulders, her giddy laugh. He couldn't help but feel slightly nostalgic for the days he had lost. Sometimes he even thought he could smell her ambrosial fragrance around him, then it would be replaced by the cheap perfume Sam wore.

It wasn't that he hated Sam. He didn't love her. She had done nothing except be willing to marry him when he was pathetic and drunk. Half of him felt bad for her because she had been unknowingly dragged into this mess. The other half of him wished she would leave already so he could wallow in his pain.

Sometimes he would shove Sam in Jackie's face just to hurt her. When he would see the pain snap behind Jackie's eyes, he would instantly regret it. But no. He had worked too long on his 'zen master' persona, and he was NOT giving that up for some chick. Some chick that he loved. But he would never admit that.

He put the record onto the player and began the exact song that swelled his heart and tore it in two at the same time.

He sat back on his bed and listened to the soft melody of Robert Plant's voice wafting from the record player and closed his eyes. He could see Jackie there in front of him dancing in her cute little cheerleader outfit. She smiled at him shyly as she crept towards him. It was all there before his eyes, until it immediately flashed away when Sam instead crawled up the bed towards him.

He turned his eyes dejectedly towards her.

"Wanna play?" she purred.

"No." he answered her flatly. Hyde was not in the mood to "make love", although that's definitely not what he would call it, with Sam. He wanted to think back on his memories of Christmases past with Jackie. Would she even remember the times they had spent together?

Instead, he grabbed Sam's hand and led her up the basement stairs and through the door into the living room. All their, or rather his, friends sat around on the couches and floors playing a board game. Everyone was there, except for one beautiful and petite brunette.

"Where's Jackie?" Hyde asked no one in particular.

Everyone turned to him and looked slightly stunned. He never cared about the whereabouts and problems of Jackie that they all had to face. He had turned cold and the heart that some of them had begun to believe he had was gone.

"Umm… she should be here soon. She called and told me she was on her way like 20 minutes ago…" Donna answered.

Kelso chimed in, "Hey man why do you wanna know? Is it cause you still love her?!"

Kelso and Fez immediately turned towards each other making kissy faces as they had once done in their past to mock Hyde.

Sam gave a glaring look to Hyde and he immediately frogged Kelso in the arm.

"No, I just wanna know when the extreme Christmas burns can start!" Eric turned his admonishing eyes up towards Hyde.

"I think Christmas is the worst time to burn someone. Especially Jackie. Maybe you haven't seen it because you've been too busy with your… umm… exotic dancer, but Jackie has had a really hard year and we've all had to put up with it. So lay off of her tonight."

Hyde was stunned at what Eric had just said. Usually it was the others to stick up for Jackie, but on rare occasion did Eric. He only did when he knew she was hurt and when he truly meant it.

Hyde ignored Eric's comment and pulled Sam onto his lap on the pea soup green chair facing towards the front door of the Forman house. After a while of sitting there, blankly staring at the game in front of him, he heard the door from the kitchen into the living room open and immediately smelled the sweet smell of Jackie's perfume.

His heart stopped for a second. It always did when she was around. Why had he been so dumb? But again, he put up that wall inside of him that he had for her, the one he built to keep her out.

Hyde immediately put on his 'zen master' act. It was all he knew.

Jackie squeezed herself next to Donna and looked around at all her friends. Hyde noticed her close her eyes and take a deep breath. She opened her eyes seconds later and turned towards the center of the group, putting on a bright smile for all but him.

"Okay! I have gifts for everyone! And you better have gifts for me." She squealed, adding in the latter bit to maintain her bossy attitude.

Everyone's eyes turned to her as she pulled wrapped gifts out of a big bag, some big and some small. The first one was for Fez.

"Fezzie. There were some things I knew you would want, but I just couldn't find a friend of mine whose shower you could hide in! So I got you this instead." She handed him two wrapped gifts, both of them slightly odd-shaped underneath the festive wrapping paper. He immediately ripped through the first one to find two bottles of extremely nice, expensive shampoo.

"Jackie, my goddess, I worship you." Jackie was happy to let Fez' compliments, which had stopped long ago, to reenter her life.

He immediately ripped open the second present and found heaps of candy.

"Ai!" he screamed. He immediately began to unwrap the tootsie rolls lying at the top of the candy pile and shoved three into his mouth at once. With chocolate all in his math, he jumped up to Jackie and gave her a big wet kiss on the lips.

"Ew, Fez! I don't want your jungle boy diseases!" Jackie immediately looked at Hyde, as she always did when another guy made a move on her. She didn't notice much of a reaction in him to Fez' kiss, but the hand that wasn't resting on Sam's leg was clenched at his side. She smirked and turned back towards her other friends.

"Donna, you're next." She pulled out a big, rectangular box and handed it to Donna. It was slightly heavy.

"I bet it's a hot oil massage kit for their slumber parties," Kelso chimed in. Donna and Jackie both glared at him, then turned back to the present in the red head's hands.

Donna began peeling back the wrapping paper with her "man strength" as Jackie would call it. She popped the lid off the box and found big boots, probably three sizes too big for her.

"Umm… Jackie… these are nice, but I am not a size 11." Donna felt bad for denying her friend's gift.

"Uh, hello Donna! Believe me I have seen your feet and you are at LEAST a size 11, and you're gonna need those for when you start chopping down trees you lumberjack!"

Donna just stared at her blankly.

"Okay, fine Donna! We'll go to the mall later and get you something in a size 10 1/2!" Donna laughed at Jackie and put her present to the side.

Hyde sat impatiently waiting for his turn. What could she have gotten him? He was nervous just to think about it.

Jackie turned towards Eric next. She handed him a pretty large box and he shook it. His face immediately brightened up as he set the box on his lap and tore through the paper.

"Oh my God Jackie! How did you know I wanted this?" Eric stared down at the lego set that lay in his lap. Inside of it were the parts to build a landspeed, the Death Star, and the Millenium Falcon. Eric's face immediately turned sober as he looked up at her.

"Did you use the force?" Everyone had a laugh at Eric's nerdiness as Jackie shook her head. She immediately moved on to Sam, surprisingly to everyone.

She reached into her back pocket and pulled out five single dollar bills.

"Here," Jackie said as she shoved the bills in Sam's direction. " I figured you're used to having your money in singles, and this is about as much as you make a night." Everyone had to hide their chuckles as Jackie openly smirked at Sam.

What Jackie was oblivious to was Hyde smiling over Sam's shoulder. She turned towards Kelso and pulled out a medium sized, rectangular box. Kelso shook it in his hands and he immediately knew what it was.

"Is this a bb gun?! Jackie! You are the best ex-girlfriend ever!" Kelso immediately pulled her into a tight hug. "Does this mean you want to do it with me?"

"No, Michael!" Jackie pushed back on Kelso's chest with a laugh and was half expecting Hyde to frog him in the arm. Instead, he stayed stationary.

Everyone turned towards Hyde, knowing what was to come. Jackie simply sat back and looked at her nails. Hyde turned his incredulous gaze towards Jackie.

"Jackie… didn't you get Hyde a gift?" Donna inquired.

"No." Jackie didn't dare look at Hyde's eyes. She didn't want him to detect her lie. She just couldn't give his gift to him in front of everyone.

"It's okay. I know she doesn't have a job, friends, or a boyfriend to help her pay, so I don't expect her go give me anything."

Jackie was used to this burn. Every time he said it, it hurt less. But saying it hurt less meant that the first time, it had hurt as though someone was tearing her heart out with their bare hand, and this time it felt like being stabbed.

After a few uncertain looks from the group of friends, they all began to stand up. Kelso felt it was his duty to break the silence.

"Okay! Girls go to Laurie's room for a circle, and guys to the basement! It is tradition! I'll be up in the girls' room soon enough to do it with you all, so have no fear!"

Kelso was immediately frogged by Hyde and Eric, and Jackie wondered who Hyde was frogging Kelso for. Sam or her?

XxxxxxX

The girls went up into Laurie's room to join her with the stash she had stolen from Hyde 2 years ago. Without a word, they all sat around a small table and lit the joint. It was passed from girl to girl until they were all high as kites.

"Oh Jackie! I love my gift! I think the shoes might be a bit small, though…" Donna laughed as she passed the joint to Jackie.

After the small brunette took a hit, she said, "I knew it Donna. And I have something else to show you guys! I got a gift from a secret admirer!" Jackie immediately pulled out a small box from her pocket and showed them a beautiful gold ring.

"I don't think the people you force to buy you gifts at the store can be considered secret admirers, Jackie." Sam added in snidely. Jackie decided to ignore her comment, but Donna knew the real truth.

"Jackie, you bought this for yourself, didn't you!"

"No, no, no!" Jackie was immediately becoming redder and redder until she grabbed the joint from Laurie's hand and took another hit.

"You know, I have had a lot of secret admirers. Well, they weren't so secret. It was always great until their wives found out. Or the school board." Laurie was always hinting at her crazy sex travails and the girls giggled at her audacity.

Jackie sat back in her chair and watched the smoke rise, suddenly lost in her thoughts. She closed her eyes and could see her birthday, long ago, when Hyde had given her his favorite Led Zeppelin shirt. That had been a gift.

XxxxxxX

Eric sat with the Millennium Falcon on his lap as Hyde rolled their second joint. After being passed around for several turns, the boys sat back and began their usual banter.

"You guys. I heard, there was this car that runs on water!" All the boys turned towards Hyde in shock, their mouths agape.

"I bet the Millennium Falcon ran on water," Eric muttered to himself.

""Do you guys want to know what I really want for Christmas?" Kelso waited to go on, gaining nods from all of his friends. "A robot!"

"Kelso, why would you want a robot?"

"Hello, Forman! To get me chicks. They dig anything shiny."

"I know something else that is shiny…" Hyde said. "How would you like a black eye!"

Kelso immediately ducked out of the way, Hyde's hand swinging at the air.

"Damn, Hyde! What was that for?"

"Because you're not wearing the helmet!"

Kelso stood up and grabbed the 'stupid helmet' and put it on his head.

"Better." Hyde immediately swung at Kelso's head again, and this time Kelso was too slow to react.

His hand crashed into the plastic of the helmet, and he yelled in pain.

"Hah! That didn't even hurt!" Kelso screeched in excitement.

"Hey Kelso, take of the helmet, you just outsmarted me!" Hyde sang happily to his friend. Kelso immediately slipped the helmet off, only to have his eye met with Hyde's fist.

"Ow, my eye!"

To be continued...

* * *

**OMG:** Please don't hold my political stand points against me, but tonight my heart nearly bursted with joy. Obama has won. Hopefully there will be change for this country, and I hope he understands how proud everyone must be of him for pushing past all the barriers and becoming someone who I know will live on in history. Please don't not read my stories if you wanted McCain. I will add that I am sorry for the opposing side's loss, not because of who it was. It is always horrible for the person who does not prevail, I know they put a lot of money, effort, and time into this election AND they lose the election in front of the whole world! It can't be easy, but I know that I am very happy right now. Okay! Squeeeeee!!!!!


	2. Sympathy For The Devil

**Author's Note: **I had to re-upload this story so I don't have any reviews. I would love it if you guys would read it! There is some sex in it but whatever, it's all in good fun! I hope you guys like the second chapter, I feel really good about this story. Sorry if I have made mistakes, my skill is in my writing but I suck at checking for mistakes! I will be updating again soon to put the next chapter. So be patient and enjoy the story! Sorry if the chapters are kind of long, they just flow out of me!

**Sympathy for the Devil**

After the girls had finished their final joint, they each dispersed from Laurie's room and down the stairs to the living room. At the bottom of the stairs, each girl was met with her boyfriend, excluding Laurie and Jackie. While Sam immediately jumped from the stairs onto Hyde, clinging her legs around his hips, Jackie looked away uncomfortably and stood fidgeting with her thumbs.

"Mmm baby you are so sexy when you're baked like a cake…" Hyde said loud enough so that Jackie could hear. He didn't know why he would do it, but he always rubbed his relationship with Sam in her face. It only pressed harder at her guilt. He remembered when she would bring guys around that could be her potential "make-out buddies" as Hyde recalled hearing Jackie say to Donna with a radiant smile. None of the guys would last more than one day in the basement though with Hyde burning them within inches of their lives…

"You guys, this is Paul!" Jackie held onto the hand of a tall young guy, his body resembling that of Kelso. He had dark brown hair that hung shaggily around his face, framing his eyes sexily, as Jackie thought. He was initially quiet, but he had a great sense of humor and his heart had swelled when Jackie asked him on a date. He had always thought she was cute, and he was a good guy that would be willing to stay with a girl instead of use her.

_Everyone turned towards Paul and greeted him welcomingly except for Hyde, who just stayed in his seat and grunted at this new guy. When Jackie pulled Paul up to Eric in order to create a new friendship, all the while holding onto Paul's hand and caressing her hand up his stomach, Hyde watched as her eyes cast fleeting glances his way._

_Hmph. He smirked. Two could play at that game. As if on cue, Sam walked out of his room looking slightly disheveled. She always looked that way, but maybe Jackie had never noticed and would think something had been going on back there before she came to the basement._

_Sam walked towards Hyde and he hungrily pulled her down on his lap. Her back leaned into his chest and he hungrily kissed at her lips. Sam's hand distastefully rubbed up and down Hyde's thigh, often stopping right on the bulge in his pants._

_Jackie felt sick. The scene before her was not only disgusting but also hurtful. She had remembered how she had sat like that with him countless times, but instead he would play with her hair or gently rub any part of her body he could get his hands on. It had been loving, not sleazy like it was now. She decided to ignore their little show. She turned her megawatt smile on and faced Paul._

_Eric and Paul were beginning to talk about how they were shocked when Leia had chosen Han instead of Luke. Jackie rolled her eyes. What _nerds.

_Before Paul could make a huge fool of himself in front of the whole gang, proving himself to be the other Star Wars geek in the group that would most likely never get laid, Jackie pulled him down onto the couch. They sat down awkwardly until Jackie turned towards him and began a flirtatious banter with him._

"_So… what do you want to do after this?" Instead of having a serious face on, she had a smile on and Paul immediately got the message she was sending._

"_Do you want to… go somewhere?" Jackie nodded flirtatiously and snuck in a quick wink at him. As habit, she turned her eyes towards Hyde to find him staring hardly at her. So she couldn't have sexual relationships with another guy but he could with a girl?_

Screw him_, she thought._

"_How about we go right now?"_

Take that, Steven! _she thought triumphantly._

_Before the two could get up from the couch, Hyde instinctively began in on the burn fest._

"_Hey man, keep your best friend away from her. You never know how many times she might end up screwing him when she's bored with you." Paul immediately looked towards Jackie, his face holding a stare of disgust._

"_Ah, BURN!" Kelso screeched._

"_Kelso, man, you're the one who was screwing Jackie while I dated her!"_

"_Steven, shut up! That's not true… we never…" Jackie trailed off sadly._

"_Hyde, you burned him and yourself in bringing up that I am the only one who ever wins here!" Kelso was always so excited when burn time came, so he sat waiting on the edge of the couch like a dog waiting to be fed._

"_Whatever, man. Hey, Paul, right? We'll all be there tomorrow." Paul looked quizzically at Hyde._

"_At your wedding, man! You know she'll be pressuring you right after she gives it up. Shouldn't be long now. Maybe an hour? That's how long she lasted when I was around."_

_Hyde immediately regretted saying something so harsh, but his angry side took over and quickly wiped out that feeling._

_Jackie's eyes brimmed over with tears and she pulled her hand from Paul's. She looked around at all her friends, each one of them looking sympathetic. When she looked at Sam, she saw a smirk appear and then her lips twitched until she was grinning widely. Hyde was neither grinning, nor frowning. His lips were set into a harsh line and those blue eyes were hidden behind his glasses. She could never get through to him anymore._

_She pulled open the door to the stairs and slowly walked out, deciding on allowing herself to wallow in her pain rather than throw a tantrum and slam the door. Paul didn't come to her once she was outside, so she turned on her heel and immediately began to march home, resolving to reform her life._

"_Thanks for… letting me know. I never thought she would be a slut or a psycho."_

"_Any time, man" Hyde said. As Paul turned away to finish his conversation with Eric and then exit quietly, he allowed himself both a grin for his achievement in keeping Jackie away from another man, and a frown for being so callous towards her._

Jackie stood still on the stairs, recalling that painful memory. She chastised herself for letting her "Steven barriers", the ones that kept all her good memories with him locked way in the back, let loose. She sighed and slipped past the group, walking through the kitchen and deciding to spend some time on their chairs outside.

As she sat down and leaned back into the chair, she pulled her legs to her chest and curled in on herself. She closed her eyes and began to hum her favorite song, Tangerine by Led Zeppelin, to herself. Her arms cradled around her knees rocked her slowly back and forth, and soon her mind was slipping from the real world and into her own comfortable place of pure blackness.

_**Measuring a summer's day**_

_**I only finds it slips away to grey**_

_**The hours they bring me pain.**_

_**Tangerine Tangerine**_

_**Living reflection from a dream;**_

_**I was her love she was my queen**_

_**And now a thousand years between.**_

_**Thinking how it used to be**_

_**Does she still remember times like these?**_

_**To think of us again?**_

_**And I do.**_

Although Steven would never, not in a million years, tell anyone, he had once sang this song softly in her ears for her to go to sleep in his arms. Although he had been slightly off key, Jackie still found it the most soothing thing to listen to. After her tears had subsided, having been crying over her father's predicament and her mother's absence, she had closed her eyes and drifted towards sleep. And before the grasp of slumber had pulled her completely down, Jackie could have sworn she heard Steven breathily whisper, "I love you" against her face as he kissed her nose gently.

Hyde was very frugal when throwing around an 'I love you', so she decided it must have been a dream. A very vivid dream, one where she could feel every movement he made beside her. She had spent the rest of the night cuddled up in his arms as he lightly played with her hair, never sleeping until she whispered his name in her sleep.

Jackie's eyes remained shut as the glass door beside her slid open and a person stepped through. It was probably just Kelso asking it if he could do it with her because he heard sex with a sad girl is the best.

Suddenly, hearing the distinct controlled breathing she had come to learn over the past few years, she was no longer so sure that it was Michael. So unsure that she popped one eye open to find Steven standing in front of her. He looked down at her uncomfortably and she shifted in her seat. She closed her eyes and continued humming. The song she hummed hit him hard in the chest. It had been their song. The one she would sing to him when he was angry, when he was sad, when he was tired, after they made love. She would whisper its lyrics in his ear very sultrily when she wanted to make love to him. And he had sung it to her on rare occasion when she was feeling down. It had been playing the first time they had ever made love.

Hyde cleared his throat, expecting her to speak first and yell at him, but instead she seemed to be using the 'Zen' he had taught her long ago. He cleared his throat again, and this time he provoked a reaction in her.

"What do you want Ste—Hyde?" He hated it when she called him that, even more than he hated ABBA.

"Why didn't you get me a present?" Jackie had known that he would have been pissed, but he was completely serious and Jackie was surprised he was that affected.

"I did, it's just…" Jackie trailed off. She didn't want to tell him that she was sorry, but she was. "Look… I just couldn't give it to you in front of them."

Hyde was perplexed at this, until a naughty thought crossed his mind.

"So, you're planning on wearing that little red and black number from Christmas before? Are you gonna do a little dance and ask me how naughty I've been?" Hyde chuckled at the thought, which immediately made him a little hard.

Jackie instead blanched and started talking gibberish. "I… uh… that is long gone… dancing for you… you actually remember that… loved…" Hyde's ears immediately perked up at the word love.

"Jackie." Jackie continued to stare at him bewilderingly.

"Jackie!" Her mouth closed shut and she looked up at him expectantly.

"I got you something too. Do you want to meet me somewhere to exchange gifts, or something?"

Jackie pondered this for a moment but felt she wouldn't be safe alone with Hyde and her feelings.

"How about we just meet in the basement at what, like 4:00?" Hyde just nodded and walked back into the house, fully knowing that being alone with her would be a mistake.

XxxxxxX

Jackie walked warily up the Forman's driveway. Her feet couldn't balance, she was so nervous. She was extremely late, having spent over an hour wrapping and unwrapping Steven's present, deciding to give and not to give it to him. Finally she had willed herself to just get it over with, and she had found her most beautiful wrapping paper and packaged the gift.

She almost slipped several times as she made it down the stairs towards the basement, her hands shaking profusely. When she opened the door, she heard the sounds of Led Zeppelin IV playing softly over the record player. She shut her eyes in nostalgia as she took her last step into the room and shut the door behind her.

Hyde was sitting on his chair watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas with a smug smile on his face. His glasses were on. He looked once at Jackie and then back at the TV. A small, wrapped box sat squarely on his leg, just waiting to be opened. His eyes jumped once more to Jackie, this time knowing that he had the protection of his glasses to hide his lingering gaze. Starting at her feet, he noticed that her legs, covered in heeled boots, were constantly moving, never at ease. Her long coat covered her beautiful curves, but he knew that underneath the clothing she was the most amazing little firecracker.

"Umm…"

"Shh!" Hyde silenced Jackie with his finger up and pointed to the screen, waiting for his favorite line.

"Then he got an idea. An awful idea. The Grinch got a wonderful, awful idea…" Hyde chuckled at the most badass Christmas movie character. Hyde _was_ the Grinch.

"Look Steven, I know you want to watch your little kid cartoons so I'll just put your gift here and you can give me mine, then I'll go."

"No, no wait." Steven turned the TV off, picked her present up from his leg, and headed around the back of the couch towards her. He stopped about three feet away.

"… Merry Christmas Jackie." Jackie smiled a soft, yet somehow sad, smile at him.

"Merry Christmas Steven."

Hyde handed her the gift and she placed it in her palm, fingering the edges of the paper. He did a horrible job at wrapping, but at least he had tried. She stuffed it in her pocket and handed him his big box.

"You're not gonna open it here? I thought you'd be screaming that you get another present." Jackie simply shook her head no.

"Are you gonna open mine here?" Hyde tilted his head at her in question.

"No… actually open it when you're alone." Jackie swallowed very slowly and spoke up again. "Where's Sam?" She had a hard time saying the horrid stripper's name.

"She's hanging out with Donna. I told her I needed to be alone for a few hours."

"Oh…" Jackie sighed. "Well I think I should go now."

Jackie instinctively leaned down to graze her lips against his and stopped herself at about an inch away. Horror crossed her face. She hadn't been alone with him in so long and she just felt so familiar with this routine.

"I'm sorry… I… bye, Steven." She breathed against his face, looking at his lips, and then turned back towards the door. She took one step when her hand was caught by his.

He pulled her back towards him and crushed her against his chest, catching her lips in a deep, passionate kiss. Her mouth opened despite her protesting brain and his tongue slipped inside, first caressing the edges of her lips and then massaging her own tongue until he got a reaction out of it. Both of their hearts swelled, but neither would know that the other's had.

A soft moan escaped her lips and he placed one hand on her hip, drawing her lower half nearer to his as he lightly grinded up on her.

The record had been spinning on side two, and the first two songs had gone by. When "Going to California" began to play, Jackie was immediately pulled back into reality.

Her eyes closed once more, savoring the kiss, and then she pulled away slowly. Hyde stared deeply into her eyes, brimming over with passion, lust, anger, and love. She could see it all in the bottomless blue that she had grown familiar with.

She picked her present to him up off the couch and placed it back in his hands, all the while as he stood there silently, thinking about what had just happened. As she turned to leave, she made one last decision to walk slowly back to him. She placed one feather light kiss, both their eyes open as they tried to savor each other's eyes, on his lips and then leaned into his ear.

"_**I was her love she was my queen**_

_**And now a thousand years between."**_

She sang softly in his ears, and his eyes closed in remembrance. She still thought of him. It was obvious. His hand trailed down her cheek and she shivered, deciding to leave before she got carried away again.

She opened the door softly and willed herself out, stepping one foot in front of the other until she found herself at her car door, opened it and sat down, placing her head against the steering wheel. After sitting there for a minute just breathing, she turned the key in the ignition and headed home as her heart broke again, remembering all fragments of her relationship with Steven.

XxxxxxX

Jackie sat on her carpeted floor in front of her small, yet beautifully decorated, Christmas tree. A record spun on the music player, the soft tones of "White Christmas" drifting through her apartment. She held Hyde's Christmas present to her in his hands and decided to finally open it. She wedged her finger into the paper gingerly, and pulled it back to reveal a small black box. Curious beyond comprehension, Jackie popped the lid off and felt tears brim at her lower lids.

Inside the box was Steven's favorite ring. He said it was something that his mom had given to him, claiming that it was Bud's. He had held onto it forever, wearing it all the time. Jackie had never seen it off of him.

She slipped it onto her thumb, the biggest finger on her hands, and laid down on her side on the carpet. She curled up into herself and tears of joy brimmed out over her lower lashes, sliding their way down her cheek like raindrops fell on a car window on a drive during a windy, rainy day. She finally understood that their relationship really was over. It had never hit her, that final hope lodged into her heart that they would one day forgive each other. It was time she move on. She smiled blissfully, but sadness tugged at the corner of her lips.

She eventually laid her head against the ground and closed her eyes, breathing deep the scent of pine needles, all the while feeling as though Steven were lying behind her. She could just imagine him whispering into her ear and putting his arm around her. He would have held her flush against his chest, rubbing her arms and sides comfortingly. She took a deep breath and sighed, her chest heavy with the weight of realization. Her eyes slowly dipped down, continuously opening and closing again. She finally allowed them to stay shut, and drifted off into a dreamless sleep within minutes.

XxxxxxX

Hyde sat back on his bed with the gift in his lap. Immediately after Jackie had left, he had made his way back to his room to find solace in his privacy. He was impatient to open the present, embarrassingly curious as to what she could have had to give him.

He opened the lid and found several gifts rolled up into tissue paper. The first one he found contained a flimsy picture of him and Jackie kissing at the Foto Hut. Leo had taken it, so they were in the corner and Leo's face took up most of the camera space. But still, he could see his perfect happiness as his eyes lay closed, holding her lips in a deeply passionate kiss. Her eyes had been open and looking at the camera, but he could detect the lust there. His hands were on her waist and hers were locked behind his head.

The second gift was the tiny troll he had once received in his lunch box. When it once seemed annoying and slightly creepy, he now found it to be special and almost endearing. He'd had no idea she'd taken it, no idea she'd somehow gotten it back from his office. He placed it on the small table beside his bed, deciding to leave it there as a reminder of her.

The third gift was her cheerleading outfit. Wow. He had not been expecting that, and a smirk spread on his face as his eyes glazed lustfully, remembering all those sexy encounters in this outfit. He remembered their Christmas Eve together that he had thought about earlier that morning. He pulled it against him and smelled the top. Her ambrosial scent immediately overwhelmed him and he pulled it away from himself. She was a decadent flavor, and he could detect hints of daisies and peaches all around certain parts of her body. He put the outfit back in the box, deciding it would be best to put it away but hold onto it forever.

There were only two more items. The first tissue paper held something soft, and when he opened it he found his favorite Led Zeppelin shirt rolled up. His eyes closed as he remembered when he had given it to her for a birthday gift. He didn't imagine she'd keep it forever but he had never thought she would give it back. He thought she would have burned it by now.

The final gift lay wrapped in red tissue paper, tucked into the corner. He pulled it out and found his Led Zeppelin II album that he had thought he lost. It instantly struck him that he had left it at her house years ago. They had made love to its softer songs many times.

The memories that laid in this box immediately seized his heart. She was giving him a lot of stuff back, but some of it was her own gift to him. He knew it had to be a reminder. A reminder of their love.

He put the record on his player and immediately went back to sit on his bed. He grabbed the picture and held it in his hands. He couldn't stop staring at their loving embrace. It so wasn't like him, yet at that time it had been exactly what he was like. Jackie had been his world, besides Zeppelin, his Camino, and shoplifting, or so she had said. He had felt her passion for him the first time they had ever made love. It was the most amazing thing he had ever felt.

XxxxxxX

"_Steven, do you want me?"_

"_Of course I want you. Would I be here if I didn't?"_

"_No. Do you… want _me_? My body?"_

_Hyde's immediately licked his lips and nodded. He had waited for her and had actually found her resistance adoring. Normally he would have left a girl if she hadn't put out by then, but with Jackie everything seemed different._

"_Come here, baby," she cooed. He followed her into his room. He was upset with himself for not having all the things he had heard her demand of Michael when she planned out their first time. He didn't have candles. He didn't have a banner. Not like he would put up a banner that would say, "Let's do it, Jackie!"_

_But he did have music. He remembered that the album inside of his record player and turned it on to "Tangerine", one of the softest songs on the album. He knew she would like it._

_He placed his hands on her hips as she pulled him down on top her of on his bed. Their kisses started out soft, but soon transferred into roughly passionate kisses. He pulled back from her and looked deeply into her eyes._

"_Are you sure you want to do this?" She only nodded. He carefully placed his hands at the bottom of her shirt and felt her shift uncomfortably but showed her agreement when she helped his hands pull her shirt over her head. They had gone this far before, but she knew what was soon to come and it made her nervous._

_She was breathtaking. He could hardly breathe at the sight of her naked breasts in front of him and he reached down to cup them. She moaned slightly at the feeling of his cold hands on them and met his lips once more._

_She continued to pull his shirt up and over his head, all the while getting more and more nervous. He could see that she was visibly shaking. He placed both hands on either cheek and kissed her softly on the lips, nuzzling his nose with hers._

_He began to pull her skirt down off of her legs as she kicked her sandals off. He looked back to her body after pulling her skirt past her feet and saw her lying on his bed half naked, only in black lacy underwear. She was embarrassed to be this exposed and pulled one of his pillows around her. He only grinned in response and began to unbuckle his belt, sliding out of his jeans._

_He took his place above her once more and let some of his weight sink down on her, still holding much of himself up with his strong arms. She sighed in content when his tongue swept its way into her mouth._

_He decided that he would finally take her underwear off, so he reached his hand down._

_Her eyes immediately grew wide and he stopped right where he was. She was so frightened and he could tell. She was treating this like it was her first time._

_She spoke for the first time since having made it into his room. "It's okay. I want you to." He complied by pulling her undergarments down her smooth legs and dropped them onto the floor. She lay down below him, completely exposed, and he immediately got harder._

_He began stroking her stomach as he kissed her and then moved his hands further south. When he reached her bottom half, he lightly dragged his hands over the small ribbons of hair that lay there, finally dragging his fingers over her entrance. He stroked her a few times and watched her eyes close and her head fall back. She was wet and completely read for him, so he slipped one and then two fingers inside of her. She moaned a deep, guttural moan, and it was the sexiest thing Hyde had ever heard. He picked up his pace as he saw her chest rise and fall quicker and quicker. Before she could reach completion, he pulled his fingers out and brought them back up to her breast as he kissed her._

_She decided it was her turn. She pulled his boxers down and immediately his erect penis pushed up against her thigh. She grasped it lightly in her hand and began to stroke his long shaft up and down, watching as his eyes drifted closed. Before she could finish him off, his hand stopped her, although his mind was telling him to keep his mouth shut._

"_Come here." He kissed her passionately and pulled her into his tight embrace. Her legs immediately moved wider to allow him space in between her thighs. He lined up with her all the while watching her face. Her breathing was becoming heavy and came in breathy pants. He slowly pushed inside of her and she moaned again._

_His movements began slow as she whimpered in his ears. He began to pick up his pace as he moved in and out of her, and she grabbed onto the curly locks of hair on his head. Her pleas grew louder and even more incomprehensible._

"_Steven… please baby… harder…" He pulsed into her harder, feeling the passion spread through his veins. Her tight wetness stroked his shaft with each movement and as he felt her shake in his embrace, her inner walls clinging tighter to him, he erupted inside of her._

_Tired from the exertion, Hyde sat back against the wall behind his bed. But she wasn't done. She placed tender kisses along his neck, all the way down his chest, finally reaching his penis. She grasped it in one hand and placed her mouth on the engorged tip. She took him deeply in her mouth as he groaned in pure satisfaction. He watched her head take in and release his erect manhood and soon enough came once again._

_Having gained some energy back from the relaxation of her actions, Hyde immediately grabbed Jackie by her shoulders and flipped her over so he was on top. He followed her steps and peppered kisses down her body, stopping at the juncture between her thighs. He placed his hands on both legs to still her and dipped his tongue into her slit. He moved it up and down, all the while sucking lightly on her clit. Her breathing grew heavy and her moans took on a higher pitch as she neared orgasm. He continued his exercise, going faster and faster, until she came right underneath his mouth. He brought his mouth up to hers and kissed her, allowing her to taste her own pleasure._

_They rolled passionately for a while, locked in each other's embrace, until they ended up on their sides cuddling each other. Their faces were against each other's, often leaning in to place a kiss on the cheek, lips, nose, or forehead. Eventually Jackie had fallen asleep in Hyde's arms and he had drifted away soon after. They had woken up the next morning, still in each other's arms, and preceded to reenact the passion they had demonstrated for each other the night before._

XxxxxxX

Right before Hyde could put the box down, he noticed a small card at the bottom that said Merry Christmas in festive red and green designs. He opened it and in her messy cursive writing read:

_I thought I should give you some of your stuff back and leave you some reminders. It's too hard for me to look at these things knowing how much I love you._

_XO- Jackie_

Hyde's eyes immediately widened at something she had said. "…knowing how much I _love_ you." Not loved. Love. As in currently. He was suddenly shaken to life, his old self having died inside him when Sam had come into his life. He placed the card back in the box as realization dawned on his broken, aching heart.

XxxxxxX

Hyde was once again sitting on his chair, listening to Zeppelin and thinking back onto his days with Jackie. Since when was he the kind of guy to sit and think? Since Jackie, that was when. Although he had never thought she of all people, with her shallow and bitchy demeanor, could change him and make him deeper, she had done it.

Sam opened the door and put a certain sway in her hips as she walked towards Hyde. She was horny tonight and she was going to get some. But Hyde never once looked at her. She was a little upset so she placed herself down on Hyde's lap and straddled him, using her finger to draw his attention up to her face.

"Mmm, Steven. I want you to take me. Right here, right now."

Steven just stared at her as several things started to click into place for him.

"Sam, I think you need to leave."

She was confused at first but then smiled at his remark. "You want me to go wait in the bedroom for you, baby? I can go put on one of my outfits." She purred seductively at him, but after having seen Jackie's unparalleled sexy demeanor, she only looked like trash to him. How could he have ever let this girl hurt the one he truly loved so much? He felt like the sick bastard he was.

"No Sam. I think you need to leave Point Place, for good. I think you need to leave me. I _want_ you to leave me."

To be continued…

**Author's Note:** Thanks again for the reviews! They just keep me going. I am doing sooooo much homework right now. I have probably written like 25 pages of information on Achilles and Odysseus. I have a literature final tomorrow and I'm kind of freaking out. If any of you readers somehow were in the CORE program you will know. It is stressing. Especially in my grade. Gah! So it will probably take me a while to post the next chapter, seeing as tomorrow I'm going to be hanging with my friends and then I have to study for the most gigantic mid term of my life! Fun. Thanks for reading, xoxo!


	3. Miss You

**Disclaimer: **So I've seen a lot of people doing this so I figured it must be mandatory. I don't own any of the characters. Hope that's good enough!

**Author's Note: **I noticed my timeline isn't correct but whatever! Sam didn't leave before New Years; she stayed all through the December of the next year (According to this story). But you don't know if she'll leave yet. Ha ha! And Fez and Jackie are no longer together. I don't have many reviews, but it really doesn't bother me. Yes, I would like more reviews, but the ones I have gotten so far make me so happy! They really do keep a writer going. Anyways, I took my midterm and I wrote 13 pages! It seems pretty good to me. Thank you guys for being patient, I haven't really had time to write anything. And I wasn't in the mood, so I read a bunch of fanfics. If you're going to write, I think that you really need to be motivated, and tonight I just couldn't keep myself from coming back to write! The last chapter had many mistakes in it, as I am noticing, so I edited it! I'm soooo sorry for my literacy disabilities; I guess I don't realize them when I'm writing. I hope you guys enjoy this next chapter; I haven't planned anything out so it is just coming out as I write it. I find that listening to music really helps me write. I used to find it distracting, but if I want a certain emotion or to get into a certain era, I put on those kinds of tunes. My constant backing music for this story is Led Zeppelin, it's a given. But I'm going to integrate other songs into this story, as soon as I find songs that pertain to what I'm writing. If you haven't noticed, the chapters are named after Stones songs. That might change, but anyways: I hope you enjoy my next chapter!

**Important Alert:** I know, it sounds scary. BUT READ THIS! The song at the end of this chapter is called "Miss You" by The Rolling Stones. The lyrics are great and SERIOUSLY pertain to the chapter. But DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT play the song while reading it. The emotions are completely unmatching so it will ruin the whole mood of the scene! Thanks.

**Miss You**

Jackie woke up a few hours after her long slumber on the floor. Bing Crosby's voice no longer played, and the silence of her apartment was eerie. She lifted her head up and the blood rushed to her head, her eyes immediately washing over with a blurry effect. She placed her palms gingerly on the crown of her head and waited for the dizziness to subside.

The presents from Steven still lay right next to Jackie on the floor, and she repackaged them, pushing them towards the bottom of her tree.

_What time is it? _Jackie thought. She glanced up towards the clock on her wall and noticed that it was already 7:00.

"Crap!" Jackie announced to nobody in the room. She grabbed her second round of presents for the people she had missed earlier on and picked up her coat. She rushed out the door, not bothering to turn off the apartment lights, something that would probably run up her bills.

She was late for the Forman Christmas party. Again. She jumped in her car, jammed her key into the ignition, and tore down the street towards the Forman house. Her second home. More like her real home. She hadn't felt at home anywhere until she'd become a true part of that family. Her own mansion, the one she had loved as a kid, had become a cold, unfamiliar place, occupied only by her absent father on various weekends throughout the year. She had finally felt accepted when she started dating Steven, spending most of her time down in the basement in his room. But now that she wasn't welcome there, her only home was her apartment. And still, it didn't feel very familiar to her.

She was tired of disappointing Mrs. Forman. She had been her only faithful friend, albeit that she was old and Jackie had never really liked old people. Donna had ditched her for that… skank Sam. Fez was now too interested in his newest girlfriend, Cindy. She was a petite little blonde with a perky attitude that could rival Fez' random happiness. Jackie liked her. She was for once a friend who would converse with Jackie over make up.

Jackie and Fez had broken up shortly after getting together. While the beginning had been fun, him taking her disco dancing and buying her flowers, something she had always wanted, she ended up getting bored. No longer did she pine for someone who would kneel at her every beck and call. She wanted someone who would challenge her. Like Steven.

Jackie made it to the Formans' in record time. It had taken her ten minutes. She pulled up to the driveway, noticing that not many cars were parked there because most of the guests invited lived in or around the house. She recognized Kelso and Brook's van, along with Cindy's bright red car. She pulled hers to the very edge of the driveway and got out. It was just starting to snow again.

Pulling her coat collar closer around her neck, she marched her way up to the house and slipped inside. People whom she considered her family were scattered all around her house. Red, her second father, Kitty, her other mother, Bob, and his newest girlfriend, Tara, were all in the kitchen. Kitty held a red daiquiri in her hand and she squealed in delight as Jackie walked in.

"Oh, Jackie, you made it! We were all so worried." Her words slurred slightly on the ends and Jackie could smell the sweet, yet pungent alcohol on her breath. She smiled at Mrs. Forman. She always got slightly tipsy on Christmas, but never enough to spoil the day. She was much better than Jackie's mother at holding her liquor.

Jackie passed hugs around the group and moved on into the living room. Leo and WB sat on the couch, both of them looking slightly passive, their eyes glazed over. Jackie could only guess what that meant.

"Wow, Leo. I haven't done that in years!"

"Done what in years, man?"

"You know… the old puff, puff, pass!"

"Yeah, me neither. I used to love that show. The dragon was so trippy, man!"

"No… Leo. I haven't done _reefer_ in a while. You get me?"

"Oh, I used to love that movie too, man. Reefer Madness has been my how to guide for life since I was a kid!"

WB and Jackie both shook their heads at hearing the absence of Leo's brain in his head. Maybe he had lost it in the war. Maybe it was too much weed that he had smoked. Jackie lodged that into the back of her brain, reminding her to tell Steven that he should be careful.

WB immediately looked up to see Jackie staring at the two with a slight smile playing around her lips, and his eyes turned sheepish.

"Oh, uh, hey Jackie! Didn't notice you there. Uh, when did you come in?!" WB immediately stood up and gave her a hug. Even though Hyde and her were no longer together, he still carried her close to his heart. She was a real firecracker.

"Oh, only a minute…" Jackie trailed off. She was could see that WB was worried he'd been caught. "And don't worry. Leo will never get you. Unless if you grow your hair out and stop taking showers. I guess all those hippy people speak his language!"

They shared a laugh and Jackie patted him on the shoulder, turning around to head towards the basement. She ran down the stairs quickly, almost tripping twice. She stopped on the bottom ledge of the stairs and her voice rang out, "I'm here!"

Everyone turned towards her in bewilderment, until Eric jumped up.

"Oh, yay, Jackie! We just knew that Christmas couldn't start until you were here!"

"Really?" Jackie stared incredulously at Forman.

"Yeah, you know. You really bring the spirit into our…" Forman ended his false speech with a raspberry in her direction. The gang immediately turned their eyes back towards the TV and ignored Jackie's presence, except for Donna who patted the space next to her. Jackie went around the couch, noticing that Steven's chair was empty.

She sat down and impatiently watched the TV, her foot tapping. She was nervous of what Steven was doing. After a minute of sitting there, Jackie noticed that the volume on the TV was extremely low.

"What's…" Jackie was immediately cut off by Kelso holding a finger to his mouth and staring impatiently at her. He whispered his loudest "Shh!" to her, and then flipped his eyes back towards its previous focal point.

Eric pointed back towards Hyde's room and she immediately heard the sounds of two voices talking. Jackie cringed. She didn't want to listen to Steven and Sam making love. Scratch that. She didn't want to listen to the sounds of Steven and Sam _fucking._ She couldn't ever consider what they did to be 'making love'. She immediately picked herself up to leave the room, then heard something she wasn't expecting.

"Well I have a right to know why you're doing this!" Sam yelled at Hyde.

He was growing impatient with her continuous questions as to his sudden dismissal of her. They had been fine before, although the arguing was constant. He guessed fine meant that they were having okay sex. She was talented, but it wasn't passionate or anything. It was just hot.

"Is this because of her? Jackie? That… nasty bitch that you used to go out with?!"

"No! I already told you I don't give a shit about her anymore!" Hyde yelled at Sam. "She's got nothing to do with it, now will you just leave?!"

Sam was furious with Hyde. They had been fine this morning. She was baffled, and immediately began packing her bags. Hyde grabbed her clothes lying around the room and threw them into her suitcase, not caring to fold them. When she was done, she picked up the suitcase and smashed it against him.

Damn, it was heavy. Hyde heaved a breath and deflected the bag back towards her, but she was already out the door. As he stepped out of his room behind her, he noticed all of his friends sitting there looking back towards the door. Except for Jackie. She sat at the very end of the couch and had her chin propped up by her hand, her eyes wandering off somewhere into space. Her eyes looked like they held the sadness of a thousand mourned losses.

He followed Sam to the exit door and she turned around one last time. This was the final blow he knew he would have coming, and he prepared for it. His face immediately masked over in Zen. He knew it wouldn't hurt him. It would embarrass him. Not only in front of his friends, but also in front of _her. _He already knew Kelso, Forman, and Fez would try to burn him as much as possible with this. But the one it would affect most would be Jackie. She had probably heard all of it. Her would no longer have an excuse to be mean to her. He would no longer have a distraction not to think of her.

"And Hyde," Sam paused to sweep her eyes over the room, making sure all eyes were on her so that everyone would pay attention to what she was about to say. She would totally burn Hyde, something she had learned from him. Kelso was on the edge of his seat. Fez was staring at her boobs. Eric had his brows furrowed in confusion, and Donna was holding onto his shoulder tightly. Jackie was the only one not looking. Oh well, she didn't matter anyways. "I'm already married!"

"What?!" everyone shouted in unison.

"Yep. I married you cause I was bored, and because you looked pathetic hanging on all those strippers in the club!" With that, Sam stepped out of the basement into the cold air, slamming the door behind her. She had made her final appearance in the gang's life.

Inside, Hyde stood with his hands out in front of him, his mouth agape in shock. He stood there for a few seconds and then recomposed himself, quickly remembering his Zen. He picked a can a beer up out of the shower and sat down on his chair, quickly popping the can open.

Everyone's eyes were locked on Hyde, their mouths hanging open. He still couldn't look at them, so Hyde turned his eyes towards Jackie. Her eyes were still looking off into the distance. Seemed like she hadn't reacted to any of it all.

And then the inevitable happened…

"BUUUURRRRNNNNNN!!!!" Kelso screeched. He immediately jumped up and pointed at Hyde. "Hyde man, your stripper wife left you! Does that mean I get to do it with her?"

Hyde was too wrapped up in the situation that he forgot to frog Kelso. Kelso looked at him in amazement, and decided to frog himself. He reared his fist back and hit it into his own shoulder.

"Ow, Hyde man, what was that for?!" Kelso chuckled. It still didn't hurt as much as Hyde's fist did, but it would do.

"Hey, Hyde. I'm sorry man… look…" Eric began.

"You guys enjoy the show?" Hyde looked at all of his friends petulantly. But he spared a less bitter look towards Jackie. Yet still not nice. It just looked like he tasted something sour. He was the one facing the public embarrassment, yet she looked so lost. He picked himself up and moved towards his room, slamming the door behind him. He put his hands over his face and rubbed them up through his hair in frustration. He flopped over onto his bed and thought of what had just happened.

He wasn't sad; he was actually kind of… relieved. But he was frustrated as well. She had burned him. And he'd sent her away without any insight as to whether he and Jackie would ever get back together. After spending a few minutes in his room, he recomposed himself and went back out into the main room. All of his friends were talking in hushed whispered. Jackie was gone.

Donna was the first to speak. "So Hyde, why did you just break up with her?" Donna was always the one to be more upfront with his relationship problems. She was probably the only one who understood him in that department.

"Oh… I got bored. And I met someone new, cheated on her." His Zen composure stayed plastered on his face. But Eric and Donna were not blind, and they could clearly see it was over something else. Kelso was shocked and couldn't comprehend, and Fez was anticipating Sam coming back to have hot makeup sex with Hyde that he could possibly listen to.

"Whatever." Hyde shrugged and pushed himself up off the chair, allowing his body to move up the stairs into the living room. Everyone stared after him and then quickly jumped off of their own seats, following him upstairs.

When Hyde made it upstairs, he noticed that WB and Leo were seated around Jackie. She held one of Mrs. Forman's daiquiris in her hand and it looked like she had already drank more than one. Yep. There were two more glasses on the table in front of her. She hadn't been up here that long, so Hyde figured she must have downed those like there was no tomorrow.

"Hey, Loud Girl! Did Hyde tell you he was going to marry you? He went to Chicago for you, man!" Jackie's eyes immediately flashed in some emotion – anger, remembrance, sadness – Hyde couldn't tell what it was.

"Yeah, Leo, I know. But now he's married to a stripper." Jackie's eyes cast downward on her last words. "We're not together anymore."

"Hyde married a stripper?! I did that once… her name was Ms. Kitty. Boy, was she a sweet one. But then she met a man she loved named Blue, and she left me for him." Jackie and WB glanced at each other, grinning like fools. Hyde cleared his throat and the two of them looked up, except for Leo, whose eyes showed that he was lost in thought. Jackie's eyes immediately deflected away and WB was none the wiser as to what had just happened in the basement mere minutes ago.

Jackie took another sip of her drink, finding her only solace in something that would make her forget. Forget what he had said.

"_No! I already told you I don't give a shit about her anymore!"_

She repeated it in her head a thousand times. It wouldn't leave her. It was permanently branded into her mind, the cool inflection of his voice passing from ear to ear.

"Hey, Steven! Where's the old ball and chain?" Hyde shifted on his feet uncomfortably.

"Oh, uh, she's gone. We're umm… over." WB's eyebrows raised in shock but he said nothing. He had the idea that Hyde didn't want to talk about this with Jackie around.

When Jackie's drink had been successfully downed in her final sip, she headed back into the kitchen. "Mrs. Forman, another one please!" Her movements were becoming slightly clumsy as she nearly tripped and landed into the counter, a fit of laughter erupting from her. None of the other adults were paying her mind; their attention was focused on their card game, so they weren't monitoring her liquor. Mrs. Forman made her another strawberry daiquiri and sent her on her way.

Jackie stumbled back into the main living room to find all the kids sitting around, chatting with Leo and WB. She sipped gingerly on her drink. She tried to step around Eric's mass, lying on the floor with his arms tucked under his chin and his legs splayed out, but she lost her balance. She was definitely more inebriated than she thought. She nearly fell to the floor, daiquiri in hand, but she was caught up against a strong chest. She looked up into the eyes of Steven and sighed. When she reopened her eyes, she began giggling at the serious look on his face. She even snorted when her laughing grew uncontrollable.

Everyone turned to her in shock. Jacqueline Burkhart did _not_ snort. Hyde immediately righted her and pulled her by the hand, out of the front door and onto the small porch.

"Jackie, how much have you had to drink?" Hyde was looking at her impatiently. He'd always been able to hold his liquor, well at least a lot of it. But her, on the other hand, she was a lightweight. And she did stupid stuff when she was drunk.

"Not that much, Steven! Stop trying to ruin the fuuuunnn. Leo and I were just going to sing carols!" Hyde smirked at her, knowing she couldn't sing. She wouldn't dare for fear of making herself look stupid.

"Whatever, Jackie. You hate singing, and you definitely don't snort. So pull your little cheerleader-self together so I can get on with my night and not have to worry about you."

Jackie laughed haughtily at him and her gaze turned from drowsy to cold in an instant. "You don't have to look after me, Steven! I don't need anyone to look after me!" She kicked her toes into Steven's shins and he doubled over in pain. Dammit, he HATED it when she did that! But it was slightly endearing. It was slightly… cute.

Jackie opened the door and slammed it in front of Steven's face. Rarely ever did they have a civil conversation anymore. It was always so bitter.

She placed her back up against the door and rolled her head back until her eyes were directed up at the ceiling. On the other side of the mass of carved wood, Hyde did the same. He shut his eyes in annoyance, in regret, in anger, in fear. Everything was crashing down on him at once. He didn't need this. He didn't deserve this. He turned around and immediately yanked the door back towards him, only to notice that Jackie was leaned up against it the same way he had been.

Jackie's eyes flew open in surprise and she felt herself drifting backwards. It was like she was floating downward, out of heaven and into hell. Falling was more like it. She was _falling_ into hell. Maybe Eric had been right about her. Maybe she was the devil.

Hyde's arms immediately flew out on instinct and he caught Jackie just as she let out a light yelp. Her arms immediately locked onto Hyde's strong ones, and she wouldn't let go for fear of reaching the ground. For fear of reaching her final destination.

She'd been on Cloud Nine when she and Steven were together. She'd begun to fall when he had chosen Sam over her. She had yet to reach the ground, but she felt as though it was looming on the horizon. Every step she took brought her closer to the edge.

Time passed. The clocks ticked. Jackie was still caught in Hyde's arms as her thoughts mulled over the relation to her emotional fall and her literal fall. Maybe she'd jumped. She'd pushed him into an ultimatum. She'd jumped, and he hadn't jumped in after her.

No one else in the room had noticed the little exchange going on. They were all too enraptured in White Christmas being played on the television.

Jackie's eyes once again brimmed over in tears, for the _umpteenth_ time today. She didn't know how much more she could release. Instead of letting her go, Hyde pulled her outside with him and closed the door softly. She was still caught in his arms, her feet dragging behind her until he grabbed her legs and sat them down on the porch. He pulled her towards him until her head was resting on his shoulder and her knees were at level with his other shoulder. For once, she didn't try to hide her emotions.

The tears just continued to rush out, moving as fast as the water of a river flows by.

"Shhhh… it's okay. I got you. I got you." And for once, Hyde wasn't ignoring her tears. He was comforting her. He was there for her.

"Oh, God, Steven. What have I done?" Her whisper was barely audible, but he heard it. Her mouth was placed right next to his ear. Her breath tickled his neck and he shivered in response. His eyes closed.

_What had she done?_ Hyde was shocked with her. She had done nothing, not that he didn't deserve. _What have I done?_ That was the real question.

But he couldn't take back all those dismissals, all those burns, all those lies from her. They were there. The days gone past could not be relived. All that could be done would be to form new truths, to make up for all that had been said in the past.

As Jackie laid there in Steven's arms, her tears eventually subsided and she began to tremble from the cold. She wasn't wearing much out here, her coat and other winter paraphernalia were still inside. He lifted her up and reached his hand out to the front door knob.

"No. I don't want them to see me like this… I just… I can't." She sobbed. He understood her and turned towards the garage. He moved around the side and brought her through the door that led to the basement. He stepped down easily, she was so light.

Hyde moved to set her on the couch but then made a quick decision. He stepped away from the couch and brought her back to his room, setting her down lightly on the bed.

Jackie inhaled. It still smelled like him. But she could smell _her._ Her tears picked up again, and this time they started to flow even heavier. Hyde was confused. She seemed like an emotional train wreck.

"Is there something wrong, Jackie?" She shook her head and rolled away from him, so that her body was facing towards the wall.

"Jackie, come on. What did I do wrong?" Jackie tried to shake his hand off as he placed it on her shoulder, and his patience was wearing thin. It always did.

She turned towards him reluctantly and swept her eyes over his room before setting them finally back on him. "It's just… it's just… It smells like you in here. And her. It smells like her."

Jackie was never this unfiltered. She was usually good at keeping all this kind of stuff hidden from him. He heard Jackie sniffle as she turned her body back towards the wall.

God, her body ached. Jackie could feel her heart tearing in two. Sam was everywhere in here, although she didn't have any belongings left around. It didn't matter that she was gone. She still had her mark all over Hyde's room. There was even a photo booth picture taped up to the wall above Hyde's bed. In the first one, both were making silly faces. The next two consisted of the regular smiles and then the one that caught them by surprise. But it was the last one that really got to her. Hyde's hands were buried in Sam's blonde locks, and their lips were locked in a passionate kiss.

Jackie groaned. Hyde followed her line of sight and saw that picture he'd hated to take with Sam. Every pose had been forced. She'd pulled his hands into her hair, forced him to kiss her. Even the one where they were smiling, he'd been forced.

He immediately reached his hand out and ripped the picture off the wall, throwing it onto his dresser. How much more could he hurt her? What else could he do that would be so cruel to her? She probably thought that he had placed that there on purpose, just for her to see it.

Hyde placed his knee on his bed and then sank down next to Jackie, placing his hand on her side as he stroked her smooth arms absent-mindedly.

"Look, Jackie. I'm sorry I didn't mean to bring you in here. You wanna go out and lie on the couch?" Jackie shook her head immediately and grabbed his blankets up into her fist, curling them around her body. She turned around to face Hyde and pulled his body flush against hers, cuddling her face into his warm, strong chest.

"I miss you," she whispered.

"Jackie…" Hyde began. But Jackie cut him off.

"No… Steven. Don't say anything, just hold me." And so he held on to her. He rocked her until her eyes drifted shut. But she couldn't sleep. She wasn't tired. But even more so, she didn't want to waste any of her moments with Steven. She wanted to remember all the times she spent with him.

_**I've been holding out so long**_

_**I've been sleeping all alone**_

_**Lord I miss you**_

They sat there like that for what seemed like forever. It could have been hours, it could have been minutes. It could maybe have even been seconds. But they were lost in each other's embrace.

_**I've been hanging on the phone**_

_**I've been sleeping all alone**_

_**I want to kiss you**_

Hyde was never like this. He was usually so spirited in his refusal to show any emotion. But today, he was lethargic. And all he wanted was to feel the comfort of Jackie's small arms around his waist. He wanted to feel her sweet breath tickle his neck, his chest, his face. He could hear her whisperings words, but they were too quick for him to understand any of them.

_**Well, I've been haunted in my sleep**_

_**You've been starring in my dreams**_

_**Lord I miss you**_

And suddenly, Jackie's tears were over. Her body shook only slightly. Her fingers loosened their grip on Hyde's waist. She pushed her body up until her face was aligned with his. She looked into his blue eyes, unmasked by those sunglasses that she thought made him look sexy, but also which covered over everything he was feeling.

Hyde's breath became labored as her body sidled up against his. She was already getting him hard by just her presence. Now _this_?

_**I've been waiting in the hall**_

_**Been waiting on your call**_

_**When the phone rings**_

_**It's just some friends of mine that say,**_

_**"Hey, what's the matter man?**_

Suddenly Hyde's attention was focused on Jackie's lips. And before he could lean in to kiss her, she had already crashed her lips down onto his. Her mouth searched his hungrily and he shifted her by her waist, moving her from his side to straddle his hips.

While Hyde had been unsure at first, his kisses became fervent as he pulled her chest up against his. Holding Jackie by her sides, he pulled her down onto him until they were grinding slowly.

_**I guess I'm lying to myself**_

_**It's just you and no one else**_

_**Lord I won't miss you child**_

There kisses grew even more passionate as they tumbled over each other, rolling on the small bed because they couldn't get enough of each other. Jackie moaned into Hyde's mouth and he took her breath into him. He was breathing her in; every part of her he had ever missed was being sucked back into him.

_**You've been blotting out my mind**_

_**Fooling on my time**_

_**No, I won't miss you, baby, yeah**_

"Where's the shirt. Where's my shirt?" Jackie had pulled away from the kiss and was giving him light pecks on the lip while he tried to catch her lips with his again.

"What shirt…?" And then Hyde understood. He stared at her in amazement for a moment, then reached down beside his bed and pulled out his favorite Led Zeppelin shirt. Her shirt.

Jackie slipped her hands under her black sweater and pulled it up over her head. She had no more inhibitions with Steven, she didn't mind if he saw her in her bra. His eyes swept over her hungrily and his hands reached out to rub the smooth skin on her waist.

"God, Jackie, you get more… beautiful each day." He was embarrassed to say it, but he hadn't caught himself in time not to. Hyde couldn't see Jackie's face because his shirt was slipping over her head, blocking her from view for a moment.

Her face finally reappeared and she was inside of the one thing he thought looked sexier on her than her cheerleading outfit. She lifted the cotton between two fingers and placed it below her nose, embracing the smell of him and her combined.

"Oh, puddin…" She sighed and closed her eyes, willing herself to remember their last encounter of this kind.

XxxxxxX

"_Mmm, Jackie. That shirt looks so sexy on you…" Hyde watched Jackie as she danced around his room in his shirt and her underwear. Nothing else. Her hips swayed to the sounds of The Beatles and he couldn't keep that goofy smile off of his face._

"_Come here before I pull you over." But Jackie refused to come to him. She was intoxicating. She winked at him and cocked one finger towards him in a come hither movement._

"_Nope. You gotta come here." Jackie stuck her bottom lip out at his response and did her trademark pout. It always worked on him._

_But not this time. This time, Hyde shook his head no. And now not only was Jackie growing impatient, but her lust and desire for him grew stronger by the second. He looked so sexy in his boxers, having just been roused from sleep by her chirping voice. Morning sex. It was one of her favorite ways to greet him in the earlier hours of the day._

_Resolving to get him back, Jackie slowly sauntered over to Hyde and crawled her way up across him, placing her legs around his body and straddling him._

"_You are so lucky that is my favorite shirt, or it would've been in shreds by now." Jackie threw him her most flirtatious smile and began coaxing his fingers through the bottom of her shirt and up her bare stomach. His hands finally found her breasts and he began teasing them with the soft pads of his fingers._

"_Ohhh, Steven." Jackie whispered. The look on her face was priceless, her eyes closed, her lips slightly parted, and her head tilted up towards the sky._

_Very carefully, he slipped the shirt over her head to reveal her sitting on him in only her underwear. The cold weather and his stimulation kept her breasts hard and he began to move his hands more south. He trailed his fingers over her underwear, arousing a gasp of pleasure from Jackie's mouth._

_Putting his fingers in the edges of Jackie's undergarments, he slipped them down her legs until they were dangling from his fingers, and he dropped them onto the floor. So she was naked, and now it was his turn._

_She followed his own motions, pulling the boxers down his body to reveal his erect manhood._

"_Mmm… Steven. Does this big boy need some special treatment?" Jackie inflected her voice so the innuendo was clear. God, she was making him hard._

_He wasted no time in flipping her over, so that she lay underneath him. He lined himself up with her and slowly sunk into her, fully encasing himself after a few strokes._

_They moved up and down each other in unison, his breath becoming more labored and her moans growing louder. They moved like this, him grinding into her and her pressuring her hips onto him, until both of them came together._

_They laid in each other's embrace after that, her head resting on his chest as she listened to his erratic heart beats begin to slow down. It was the few times like these, when they were relaxed together, that she felt everything in their relationship was perfectly lined up._

And the next day, she would demand more from him and end their relationship and all they had built, for good.

XxxxxxX

"Steven…" Jackie breathed heavily in his mouth, their lips swollen from the passionate kissing. But he was too caught up in their kisses and couldn't stop. She tried again, "Steven." She slowly pulled away and placed her soft palm on the side of his face, stroking the light stubble that was forming there. She looked him dead on into his piercing blue eyes, remembering all the times she had seen everything she wished to see in them.

"Can we just… lie here?" Jackie wanted to kiss and makeup, but it was just too much for her. She thought they should talk before they did anything serious. They still had problems to face.

"Sure, baby." Steven rested himself down on the pillow and pulled her head down onto his chest. He placed his hands soothingly on her back and rubbed comforting circles.

And from there they drifted into sleep, each one dreaming of the other. And they wouldn't wake for a while. The restful slumber they found in each others completely surpassed all other nights of sleep they had gotten before. It was like they were in a coma, one they were stuck in together. Her mind drifted open with dreams of Steven kissing her and telling her he'd made a mistake, while Hyde's mind was a tad bit dirtier. His dreams picked up where they had left off and they continued to make love. But in his dreams, he wasn't afraid to tell her what he felt. In his dreams, he would tell her that he loved her a thousand times a day if it would make her smile.

Neither of them could be stirred until their minds were ready to part from their calm state and their bodies to move from each other's embrace. Even the familiar sound of Kitty, heard only two years ago in a similar situation, calling "Presents!" could not wake them up. Instead, they stayed connected to each other in their warm hold, and slept until their hearts had swelled and burst, each one finding a new way to resolve the torment they had faced when their love had pushed them over the edge, sending them both falling into the abyss.

_**Lord, I miss you child**_

**Author's Note: **I hope that was okay! I should really get to bed now, I need chapstick. Anyways, tonight, I watched Family Guy and was graced with the voice of Mila Kunis. She actually has a very soothing voice; great for voice acting! That show is seriously hilarious. The writing is so great. And then I watched Punk'd with Danny Masterson. That was one of the best episodes. He got so mad at the kid! And he looked so hot. He had his cigarette hanging out of his mouth (yes smoking is a turn off but on him it just looked hot). He looked like a bad guy who does the right thing, you'd know what I'm talking about if you've seen that episode. Anyways, he is so handsome! Haha, I wish he and Mila Kunis could be dating. They'd be really cute. Enjoy this chapter, the next one should be up fairly soon.


	4. Let It Loose

**Author's Note: **So I just went to an event called "77 Kids" for American Eagle. I went with my best friend who is an actress, although I won't name her. Lemme just say, wow. The Jonas Brothers played, and although I am not a fan, they sounded the same as they do recorded! And they really are cute. Anyways, it was pretty fun. I'm warning you, this chapter is REALLY short compared to the last ones. There's a reason why. These chapters act as a sort of prologue for how the story is going to happen. So after this chapter, the story is going to jump ahead. And I will start putting dates, times, locations, and years. Just so you know, these first few chapters may seem strange time-wise but I will date them here.

_Everything in these past few chapters_

_has occurred on December 24__th__, 1980._

**Let It Loose**

_Forman Basement. 9:36 PM. December 24__th__, 1980._

Jackie was woken up first, by Forman's attempts at waking up Hyde.

"Hyde, man, wake up! We're opening presents." So the peaceful slumber wouldn't last as long as they thought it would. Jackie opened one eye and saw Forman's face of contempt.

"Hmph. I didn't think Hyde would ever get back with the devil." Jackie narrowed her eyes at Forman and moved herself out of Hyde's arms, putting the pillows in his grasp to placate them.

"We're not… he just…" Jackie trailed off. "I'm gonna go upstairs, you can wake him up." She was worried about what would have been said by the other if they had woken up in each other's arms. Jackie scurried out of his room, her heels clicking their way up the stairs.

"Hyde. Wakey-wakey Mr. I Love To Bakey!" Eric chuckled at his own joke and Hyde groaned.

"Forman, I'm sick of you stealing your mom's jokes." He opened his eyes and noticed that Jackie was nowhere in the room. What time was it? Had they slept until the morning? "Where's Jackie?"

"Who, you mean the devil? Oh she had to go punish some bad boys. No, we're all upstairs opening presents. My mom wants you up there so she can take pictures of us in our elves hats." Forman and Hyde shared a knowing look. She did this _every_ year.

"Okay man, I'll be up in a minute." Eric left with one glance back towards him. Hyde sat up on his bed and rubbed his hands up his face. Fuck. What was he getting himself into? He should have just let Jackie stay out on the couch. Now, not only would it be awkward, but she would have some glimmer of hope as to them.

He couldn't let this start again. He couldn't let her claw her manicured pink nails back into his life, into his heart. Every time they hooked up it started out recklessly, and it ended up disastrous. He couldn't let her believe there was a chance they could rekindle what they'd had before.

He didn't want that. Who was he kidding? He _did_ want that. He fixed his shirt and made sure he hadn't pitched a tent. At least it had gone down by now. Hyde made his way out of his room and up the stairs to find everyone waiting anxiously in their obnoxious little elf hats. Mrs. Forman was pacing, camera in hand.

"Steven! You made it. Here's your hat, now join the group!" Hyde warily grabbed his hat and placed it as far back as it would go on his head, moving to the edge of the group so he would be least noticeable in the picture. He placed his arm on Bob's shoulder, who was grinning at him like a fool.

"Everybody say… Christmas tree!" Fez and Bob were the only ones who said it. Red frowned. Hyde smirked. Eric and Donna laughed. Kelso grinned goofily. WB smiled. Leo stared off into space. And Jackie's lips tugged up at the corner, but that was as far as they would go. None further.

After the pictures had been taken, everyone gathered around the Christmas tree that was heavily adorned, almost packed, with colorful bulbs, lights, and cheesy pictures of the family.

"Okay, we draw a paper out of a bag and that person picks the first gift to be given under the tree!" Jackie eyed the massive amount of presents. She hadn't received any yet this year, and she'd already given hers out. Damn her impatience. She only had a few for the adults under there.

"The first name is… Fez!" Everyone's eyes flipped towards Fez as he gave a cheery clap.

"Okay, the name I got is Red!" Of course. Fez had always had some weird fascination with Red. He reached under the tree, fishing around for a present that had Red's name on it.

"Here is one from Bob!" Fez handed the present to Red, who made an obvious show of rolling his eyes before taking the present. He unwrapped the paper to find a black box, taking the lid off in no hurry. Inside was the exact same shirt Bob was wearing. It was zebra striped, each stripe adorned with small rhinestones.

"Now we can match when we go to the Packers games!" Bob was smiling at Red, waiting. Kitty nudged her husband and he tensed up.

"Umm… yeah. Sure Bob. Thanks."

And so the night continued like this. Presents were handed out. Hugs were given. Everyone received something that they obviously had no use of, but they also received something they were sure to enjoy.

Jackie had received tons of makeup, unicorn plushies, and clothes. She was pretty easy to get gifts for. Except for when she found the clothes ugly, which was most of the time.

Kelso was given toys meant for kids and a book from Red. He tossed the book aside and headed straight for the toys. And this obviously appeased him. He had an idea that all of his friends would be playing with these alongside him down in the basement once they were done.

Eric received a Star Wars shirt, GI Joe action figure set, and a raincoat.

Donna was given a couple records, tickets to concerts, jewelry from Eric, and makeup from none other than Jackie.

WB was hard to give gifts to because no one knew him super well, so he mostly received sensible clothes and tickets to events. He was fairly easy to please, seeing as he was already self-proclaimed rich.

Bob was presented with cheesy clothes, all bought from Bob's favorite store: Mr. Jimmy's Funkalicious Clothing Store. Typical Bob.

Fez got candy and nudie magazines, but those were opened secretly so the adults wouldn't see.

Leo was given all sorts of random stuff. Pictures, records, clothes, sunglasses. Everyone knew that Leo would forget their gifts after they had been given, so it didn't matter much what they gave him.

Kitty received a lot of alcohol and baking utensils. It appeased her. All she wanted was her Schnapps.

Hyde was given mostly records and a lot of brown paper bags. Four to be exact. He would open them later. They were more of a gift to the whole gang, but everyone knew he did it on his own too.

Red received mostly shoes. Everyone figured he needed so many since he was always putting his foot up people's asses. Must have ruined them.

When the gift giving was done, the adults moved onto the couch and the kids headed down into the basement. It was time once again for a circle, this time for all of them included.

When Hyde moved by Jackie, she felt his arm brush against her chest. She looked up into his eyes and smiled, but he never once looked towards her or returned the gesture. Instead, he was first to shuffle his feet down the stairs into the basement.

He picked up a beer for himself, concealed by the dingy shower curtain, and sat down in his chair. His movements were stiff, but Jackie found herself the only one noticing. Even when Donna flipped on the TV to Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer and Kelso screeched in joy. Her eyes were only on Steven.

But again, he didn't look her way.

_**In the bar you're getting drunk,**_

_**I ain't in love, I ain't in luck.**_

Jackie reached her hand out and placed it lightly on Hyde's knee, capturing his attention. His blue eyes were colder than the waters of Wisconsin during winter. His gaze caught her off guard and she stumbled over her words.

"Ste-Hyde are… uh… are you, I mean are you okay?" She could tell that his Zen had returned. Even after them falling asleep together, even after she had showed him the gut-wrenching emotions she felt draining her body every day.

"I'd be a lot better if you took your hands off of me." Her hand cringed back in defeat. She closed her eyes and breathed in all the air her tight lungs could consume.

_I can stay here and take it. Or I can leave and never look back._

_**Hide the switch and shut the light,**_

_**Let it all come down tonight.**_

After waiting around for him for years, Jackie chose the latter. Of course she'd left before, but all the while she had thrown glances over her shoulder to see if he would be following her anytime soon. This time, she could forget it all. Forget him. Forget their memories. Forget the past. And leave.

Willing herself with new determination, Jackie picked herself up with all her strength, hoping her high heeled boots could keep herself steady. Her head was spinning, not only from the hangover of her previous intoxication, and from the rejection of him. She had faced rejection before. But from him? Over and over again. Repeatedly. And she was sick of it.

_**Maybe your friends think I'm just a stranger.**_

_**Some face you'll never see no more.**_

"I'll see you guys later." Jackie looked back once more over her shoulder and saw that Hyde was now looking at her. And it weakened her armor. But she continued on.

She grasped the door knob with her hand and twisted the metal, clinging to it as though it were her only lifetime. How many times she had hesitated to touch it, never knowing what Steven could be doing down there, and with whom.

Jackie thrust her body out into the cold air and shut the door behind her as quickly as she could.

_No turning back. No turning back. No turning back._

Of course she would say goodbye to those of the gang who deserved it. Or maybe not. It seemed like none of them would notice. She was hardly spared a glance lately, except on rare occasions.

But not him. He definitely wouldn't get a goodbye. The more she would see him, the more rejection she would feel. She could imagine how it would happen:

"_Goodbye, Steven." And her eyes would be pleading with him, begging him to tell her to stay. To whisk her off her feet. To tell her how he felt. But of course that was impossible._

"Yeah, whatever." And his sunglasses would be on. His shoulders would shrug. He'd turn away from her and let her go on.

It had happened. More than once. And she wasn't willing to go through the betrayal and hurt of his indecisiveness again. Every goodbye he said, every "I don't know" just weakened her belief in his love for her. Finally she was grasping for threads, and history had judged that Hyde would do the same thing. Her rational mind took over, and she couldn't deny that she no longer held a place here. In their lives. In his heart.

She counted to ten. She willed herself to count ten more seconds. And one last time.

Until she realized, no one was coming for her.

No one really knew what she was saying.

Maybe _he _did, but he didn't care.

What had happened between them earlier in the basement was a fluke, just a way to spill out some emotions. He would go back to being the same careless, Zen person he always was. Hiding behind his sunglasses. Shrugging. Saying, "Whatever."

And so her heart shattered into pieces, cracking like the ice over the frozen lakes of Wisconsin did when pressured to the point of crumbling beneath the one unlucky person's boots.

Jackie took several quick steps up the basement steps until she was in the cool outside air. Although the night went by in a blur, she would recall in the future that she ended up in a cab going on no road to nowhere.

All she could remember was that she didn't look back to Point Place until fate decided to step into her life, weaving its web around her like a spider trapping its unsuspecting fly.

_**Let it all come down tonight.**_

_**Keep those tears hid out of sight,**_

_**Let it loose, let it all come down.**_

XxxxxxX

**Author's Note: **So yes, you see how short it was. Anyways, the next chapter should be longer and possibly up tonight or tomorrow. I am going to write it now. It will jump awhile a head, and these first four chapters tell the story of how the characters came to be where they are. Anyways, expect some bad behavior from a lot of the characters. I like to see pain in the characters! What can I say, I'm sadistic. No I'm kidding. But there will be angst, and tons of it. I hope you guys like my writing! The story will be drama-filled but I definitely throw in comedy because I don't want this to be completely angsty. It has to have some light-heartedness! I wonder if anyone noticed the "going on no road to nowhere" allusion to The Tao of Pooh, a book about Taoism. Anyways, thanks for reading!

**FYI:** I hold no grudges against characters (For those of you Fez and Donna haters who include anger towards those characters in your FanFics!) , especially since I barely watched the 8th season.


	5. Shattered

**Author's Note:** Wow I haven't updated in forever! It's cause the cruise internet was extremely expensive, 75 cents per minute! And after I came back I was packed with homework. And then I had two finals to study for. One song that really inspired this chapter, and don't hit me cause it's not a '70s song, is Signs by Bloc Party. Anyways, I watched "The Goonies" today, which is one of my all-time favorites. I have always had the biggest crush on Brand (Josh Brolin). Rumor has it a second one is in the talks. Can you guys tell me you wouldn't watch that? I would love to see it. Anyways, I wasn't really feeling this story for a while and I have to make a lot of decisions as to how the plot will go, so bear with me!

Shattered

_**December 12, 1982. New York City. 7:26 PM.**_

Lights. Everywhere. It was one of the reasons she loved this city the most. The energy was hypnotic; it floated into your veins, pulsing through you, lifting you up off of the ground. The people were of a various range, some crazy, others nice, old, young, black, white, brown, apathetic, cultured, playful, mischievous, caring, sullen, intelligent, uninhibited. It was all here. Everyone was their own person, and she could get lost amongst the people to see and places to go.

As Jackie made her way through Central Park, she could smell the sweet fragrance of pine and cinnamon. As she inhaled, it drifted through her body, enrapturing her in the sweet tones of winter. And unlike any other city, any place she had ever been to, there was always a sense of community here. Everyone went to Central Park around Christmas. Everyone watched the ball drop for New Years in Times Square.

She felt as though everyone was working together here, more than she had in Point Place, and she barely knew anyone here. She had known the whole town of Point Place and still she never felt the kinetic connection of people here. Here, she had a few friends, those who lived in her apartment building, those she worked with, and the ones who worked at the stores she frequented. She also had Julian. But besides that, she had no one else.

_**Shattered, shattered**_

_**Love and hope and sex and dreams**_

_**Are still surviving on the street**_

_**Look at me, I'm in tatters!**_

_**I'm a shattered**_

_**Shattered**_

She hadn't seen her friends from Point Place in about two years. Donna called at most once every month, checking in on Jackie. Her calls had dwindled slowly since the time Jackie had moved away. Kelso had called recently. He and Brooke were heading up, but that call had been a week ago and she hadn't heard from him since. She did occasionally write with Eric, but that was kept secret from everyone else.

It was strange how two people who detested each other could end up finding common ground.

And that had happened more than once in her life.

She hadn't spoken to Steven J. Hyde since the night she left. She didn't try to contact him, nor did he make an effort to speak with her. The last she'd heard from Eric was that he spent his days off with trashy girls and his nights drinking or focusing on the circle. Sam hadn't come back.

Kelso was still in Chicago, and he and Brooke were expecting their second. So much for that Molly Hatchet concert being a mistake.

Fez had been upgraded from Shampoo Boy to an official hairdresser. Supposedly he was enjoying the single life, hitting the bars often to pick up chicks. He and Hyde had become close since Kelso was gone.

Donna was still on the radio station, taking night classes at the local community colleges. She was saving up to go to college in California.

But other than that, none of them had changed. Jackie, and surprisingly Kelso, had been the only ones smart enough to escape the town they had called home in their earliest years.

_**Friends are so alarming**_

_**My lovers never charming**_

_**Life's just a cocktail party on the street**_

Big apple

_**People dressed in plastic bags**_

_**Directing traffic**_

_**Some kind of fashion**_

_**Shattered**_

"What are you thinking about?" Jackie turned towards the musical voice of Julian. He was tall and lanky, built somewhat like Kelso. He had his dark brown hair shorn in a messy style, his deep brown eyes crinkling in concern. He was cute, no girl could deny that, with his model looks and adorable demure. The moment she had met him, Jackie had no power in resisting him.

"Just… people I used to know. Point Place. I haven't been there in forever. Daddy should be posting parole soon so I'll have to… go back."

Julian's light smile turned down slowly at the corners. He always showed more concern over her situation with her father than anyone of her other friends had. When they had first met, he was perfectly content with listening to her stories. Stories of her family life growing up. How they had been broken up like a mirror crashed to the ground. Her trials with Kelso. Fez' obsession with her. Her friendship with Donna. Steven.

But she no longer liked to delve on the past. Rarely could Jackie be heard speaking of her life before New York. Julian would notice it every once in a while, when she would slip up and speak about it, or when her eyes would crinkle in the fond emotions of memories past.

Jackie and Julian continued down 5th Avenue, marveling over the festively decorated stores. Images of whimsical smiles, sounds of mischievous laughter, the smells of cinnamon, all passed by Jackie. For the first time in two years, she let her mind wander, moving with small footsteps down the long road home to face ghosts of lives past, turning its back towards the broad, fathomless horizon of the future.

_**December 12, 1982. Forman's Driveway. 8:32 PM.**_

Snow was drifting down through the sky, small beacons of light pressed against the blackness of night. It rained down upon Eric and Donna's faces, but it didn't matter. They were lying on the hood of the Vista Cruiser, reveling in each other's silence. It had been so long since they had felt this comfortable in the quiet of the other.

Donna was the first to speak. She cleared her throat.

"Do you think… we should try to find Jackie this Christmas?" She was always the first to ask. Bold as ever. It had been two years since they saw each other. She had written but her letters had come to a close as her life got busier and busier. Jackie had promised she would visit them last Christmas but they hadn't seen or heard a word from her after that. She never even came.

"It's already been a year and we haven't seen or heard any signs of her… Donna I think she doesn't want to talk to any of us." Forman knew it wasn't right keeping it secret from Donna that he talked to Jackie through their missives, but he couldn't bring himself to break that bond he had formed with Jackie.

Her last letter had arrived three days earlier. It was all very Jackie, but her words had lost the zest of the feisty girl Eric had come to known his whole high school life. She didn't gush about her feelings, her shopping lists, the bitches who lived in the city. It was just an update on her life. He was lucky to have her even picking up a pen and sending affection back towards her home town. The only time she was spirited towards him was in her closings. She usually wrote something conceited like _Yours Never (Because You're too Skinny), Jackie_. It was all that kept him thinking she was still herself and fine as she was.

_Dear Eric,_

_I am so excited. It's Christmas! Julian and I might be coming home to visit daddy. I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't tell anyone. We'd only be there for a few days._

_Daddy will be posting bail soon. How is everyone? I wish I could be there but facing all of it would just… be too hard._

_Maybe you should come up to New York some time. You could bring Donna. Just don't tell her about our letters. She would get angry. You know how she is. And then you might throw a toaster._

You'll never guess what happened. Michael rang up the office a couple days ago and surprised me. He said he's coming to NY because Brooke has always wanted to go.

_It was completely out of the blue. I haven't spoken to him since Christmas two years ago. Julian is going out of town for a week around Christmas, so you guys should maybe venture up here. I never get to spend the holidays with anyone. If you guys do want to come up, call me beforehand. And don't bring Hyde or Fez. Please._

_Y.M.F.F. (Your Most Fabulous Friend),_

_Jackie_

_P.S. You're still too skinny!_

"She still lives in New York right?"

"I think so…" Eric replied with as much convincing cluelessness as he could.

"Maybe we should go visit her." Donna was pressing it. She hadn't had too many close friends after Jackie had left. She hadn't had any best friends.

Eric thought about Jackie's letter. She said they could come up.

"Maybe we should…"

________________________________________________________

_**December 12, 1982. Hyde's Apartment. 11:13 PM.**_

"Okay I have a very good one. I have never lit fire to a police academy!"

"Aw, Fez, man! I told you, I had to fight fire with fire!" Kelso's eyes darted between Hyde and Fez as their tongues hung out goofily. He had been there the last two days with Brooke, deciding to pay a visit to the gang before he headed out to New York. Kelso lifted the small glass shot glass, imprinted with a memoir of Cancun, Mexico. He raised the edge to his lips and downed the alcohol. His tongue was immediately overwhelmed with the zingy taste, and the liquor burned its way down into his stomach, settling there.

They had smoked two joints already, and were now into their third round of a game of "I Never". The room was in an endless cloud of haze.

Hyde's apartment was fairly small and barely decorated. Typical him. It wasn't bad to look at though. The place was somewhat organized, the walls white. Records were piled up against the wall, his record player spinning in the corner of the room to the sounds of "Four Sticks".

The muted light of the TV splayed out onto Hyde's carpet; the volume was turned down to a near-mute as the "Thriller" music video danced along the screen. Hyde had no idea why people liked it so much. Seeing Michael Jackson, wearing some stupid red jacket like the 'Stuntman' one Mrs. Forman had once bought him, dancing around with zombies would never compare to even just _hearing_ Zeppelin play over the radio.

Kelso seemed to enjoy it because he screeched in that well-known, high pitch voice of his and ran over to the record player, picking the needle up off the record it to silence it.

"Hey man, what the fuck I was listening to-" Hyde yelled.

"Shhhhh!!!!" Kelso continued his journey, spinning around to head towards the TV. He hit the volume buttons impatiently until Michael Jackson's poppy voice was almost at screaming level in the apartment. Kelso picked up his feet and began doing the infamous moves of the video. Hyde shook his head. He had no idea why he was friends with this loser.

Fez couldn't contain the goofy grin that spread across his face, and he decided to join in with Kelso.

Those two were so in love. But a bro-mance love. The admiring way Fez looked at Kelso was so priceless.

Hyde scooted himself back on the carpet until his back was pressed against the wall, and lolled his head back. He closed his eyes and thought about how everything was the same as it always had been. And it satisfied him, but he always wondered it anything would change. It had changed for Jackie.

_Jackie._ It had been so long since he'd seen her. He'd heard about her in passing a few times, especially lately. Kelso was talking about going to visit her. He'd heard she been dating some guy named Jeff or Josh or something like that. And though he would never admit it, he wanted to see her. He missed her. He wished he could go up with Kelso to New York.

And maybe he would.

_**December 12, 1982. New York City. 11:48 PM.**_

Jackie and Julian had made it back to the apartment late; they had spent a few hours shopping for Christmas presents. By the time they had made it back to Jackie's apartment, their lust for each other was almost palpable. The whole cab ride back she had teasingly trailed her hands up and down his thigh, occasionally catching his eye with that wicked smile of hers.

And every time he would try to lean in close and kiss her, she would pull away. And then she would continue to tease him. She loved being chased and he was driven wild by her taunting games.

They stumbled blindly down the hall, Julian's hands roaming feverishly across her body. By the time they made it to her door, her back was pressed up against the thick mound of wood and their lips were caught together in a passionate kiss.

"Mmm baby how am I going to open the door with you all over me?" Jackie giggled as Julian kissed her neck.

"Don't bother… we don't need to get inside. I don't think anyone will notice." Jackie's smile broadened at Julian's playfulness. She turned her back to him and pressed back against his chest, all the while searching her purse for the keys to her apartment. His hands massaged longingly through her hair, pushing it all onto her left shoulder so he could kiss her neck.

When Jackie finally got into the apartment, the stumbled straight into bed and spent hours in each other's passionate, longing embrace. Jackie loved making love. Each person was completely free of all barriers they put up in their lives. And after, they could be completely sweet and just enjoy the company of the other. It had been just like that with Steven.

_**Laughter, joy, and loneliness and sex and sex and sex and sex**_

_**Look at me, I'm in tatters**_

_**I'm a shattered**_

Shattered

When they made love it was one of the most passionate things she had ever experienced in her life. She could almost swear she felt hurricanes brewing, the polarity of the earth flipping, lava exploding. It was all there. And afterwards, they would choose to spend the hours talking and savoring each other's faces, or she would lie in his warm embrace in silence. It was very rare that she was completely quiet, and they were completely comfortable just enjoying each other's company.

So that night, as Jackie lay in Julian's strong arms, she closed her eyes and guiltily pretended that she was lying once again in Steven's embrace. Images of his rare smile, smells of him flooded her mind. She could never understand why how hard she tried, she could never get over him. She was always pulled back. He was her drug, and even after getting unhooked from him, she still had flashbacks. She had her relapses. Like that Christmas two years before. She wondered how long it would take before Steven, this potent elixir, would finally be gone from her system completely.

_**Ahhh, look at me, I'm a shattered**_

I'm a shattered

_**Look at me- I'm a shattered**_

XxxxxxX

_**December 13, 1982. New York City. 12:01 PM.**_

Hyde awoke the next morning, still against the wall on his floor. His clothes were the same as the night before and he smelled like beer and pot. In substance, he enjoyed the smell. On a person, they just reminded him of shattered lives and broken people.

Kelso and Fez were passed out on the couch; Kelso's mouth was hung open in an obnoxious snore. Fez' arms were tucked into himself like he was his only comfort.

Hyde picked himself up from the floor, the numbing pain of a hangover drilling its way into his head. What he needed was a shower. A long, warm shower.

After Hyde had finished the soothing shower, he dressed and made his way back out into the living room. He stood over Kelso and Fez and decided it was time to wake them up. He drew his hands back and frogged them on the arms — simultaneously— until they both startled awake.

"Wake up! Kelso, man, you gotta get to New York today!" At that, Kelso threw himself from the couch and made his way through the apartment picking up anything that was his and getting ready to make his way out to his car. By the time the three of them were ready to leave, they were all feeling the blinding pain of their hangovers.

That was the price they paid for a night with the want of a simple kind of pleasure.

As usual tradition, everyone made their way to the Forman house before Kelso and Brooke left for their trip. The gang was congregated in the driveway, waiting for Donna and Eric to come out to see Kelso and Brooke off. What took everyone by surprise was when Donna and Eric exited the house carrying suitcases. Everyone's face contained shock until it registered in their brains that Eric and Donna were obviously planning on going somewhere, and probably New York.

"Man, are you guys coming along?!" Kelso's face immediately lit up in excitement at the prospect of a buddy coming with him to share his stash with. Brooke never partook in the "circle time" and she especially couldn't now that she was pregnant. Donna and Eric just nodded. They had hoped they could hitch a ride in Kelso's van, but if not they would just follow him in the Vista Cruiser. It had been so long since any of them got out of Point Place. The excitement was ringing through the air, it was almost tangible to each one of the friends.

"Wait, what man, so I gotta be left here with Fez? Alone? No way. That's like making Zeppelin hang out with Donna Summer. I'm coming too." Eric groaned inwardly; it was exactly what Jackie hadn't wanted. Obviously Fez would jump on the band wagon too.

"We're staying at Jackie's too… but I don't think there will be enough room for you." Donna and Eric were grasping at strings to keep Fez and Hyde from coming.

"Naw, man it's cool, W.B.'s got a place down in Greenwich Village." Hyde wouldn't take no for an answer. Not only was the prospect of visiting a big city, with tons more stuff to do, exciting to him. He would also get to see Jackie. He knew their first encounter wouldn't be comfortable… or pleasant in the least. But he wanted to change that. After hearing about her for days, the prospect of being around her sounded great. He knew it wouldn't take long before she softened up to him once again. And then maybe he would have another shot with her. Hopefully she wasn't too serious about that Jeff guy. He didn't know how well he'd stand up next to some new infatuation with their traumatic history in the way.

"Fine man, but I would suggest staying away from Jackie." Eric was just trying to ruin this trip for him, Hyde thought.

"Why?" Steven inquired. He already knew the answer.

"Because I… just have a _feeling_ that she won't be wanting to see you." Eric was always slightly ominous when he spoke about Jackie. Like he knew stuff she was doing or feeling, even miles away. None of the group had never picked up on his secretiveness. No one knew he wrote letters with her, except for Mrs. Forman. She had taken in the mail one time and found a letter written to him in a beautifully, loopy cursive writing. Immediately she knew it was a girl's. Thoughts of Eric cheating on Donna ran rampant into her mind so, as she would explain to Eric, she just _had_ to read the letter.

It was her usual excuse of "I just happened to get the mail and your letter just fell into my hands and the note just sort of slipped out and I just so happened to read some of it because it was right there…" Mrs. Forman was always playing cheesy little games, playing dumb. She thought a lot of people around her were less observant. Her cheerful laugh and naïve ways were all what added to her charm. Eric had even gotten her once with, "You know that the word gullible is not in the dictionary!" It had taken her a while to realize she had been stooped; only after she spent her time glancing through Webster's Dictionary did she realize Eric's prank.

She had told Red that Eric wrote letters to Jackie, and Red didn't seem disapproving. No, instead, he almost seemed slightly happy. When he had found out, his lips had tugged up at the corner and he had mumbled something like "About damn time someone talked to that girl…" He was always so fond of Jackie, even if her talking was a little to incessant for his taste. He had hated seeing her so heart-broken. It was moments like these that Eric really made him proud and proved himself to be a good kid. He may have been lacking in the sports-ability department, but where he really proved himself was in his friendship. He time and time again proved himself to be caring, always looking out for the best interest of his friends. He was definitely the moral head on the gang's shoulders.

Hyde just rolled his eyes and shrugged. Only thirty minutes later did all the gang have their bags packed. Kelso and Brooke had decided to take Fez, and Hyde was riding in the El Camino. He wanted to have a getaway car incase things were boring, or somehow went extremely bad.

"Michael, where are you? I can barely hear you!" Jackie spoke loudly into the telephone receiver.

"_We're at a rest stop at the border of Pennsylvania and West Virginia. We should be there in a few hours!"_

"Why are there so many voices in the background? Who are you with?" Jackie thought she heard Hyde's voice saying "Whatever", but she couldn't be sure. She didn't think that Eric would do that to her.

"_I told you Jackie, it's just me, Brooke, Eric, and Donna. We're in a restaurant at the rest stop so it's kinda crowded and noisy." _Jackie could have easily detected Kelso's lie, but she could barely hear him and she was better at reading faces than voices.

"Okay, well hurry up and get back on the road. I can't wait to see you guys! I have to sit around in my apartment all day waiting for you to get here and I am bored out of my mind!" Jackie and Kelso continued short conversation exchanging jokes and small talk. Finally when Kelso finished the conversation, he hung up the phone and turned back to the gang.

"Well… what did she say?" Hyde asked. He was acting suspiciously anxious, as Donna and Eric noticed. His hands were stuffed in his pockets, his shades placed on the bridge of his nose. He tapped his foot nervously; it was a twitch they knew well. It usually occurred when something was pressing him about Jackie.

"Oh, she just said that she wants us to hurry up because she can't wait to do it with me!" Kelso's arm was met with Hyde's fist, as in tradition. But it was a tradition that had stopped so long ago, when it was over Jackie. Kelso stared at Hyde in confusion and then shock, but shook it off. Hyde was acting strange and he wanted no part of the complication that was Jackie and Hyde.

The gang spent about 15 minutes at the rest stop and then made their way back onto the road. A few hours later, Jackie sat impatiently in her room, occasionally getting up to pace back and forth. She was so nervous. She hadn't been before. Her stomach kept on fluttering, replaying the phone call with Michael a few hours before. She should have been listening intently, trying to pick up on hints from Michael that someone else was coming. She could have sworn she heard Steven, but she wasn't going to keep her hopes up.

After minutes of analyzing speech fragments and voice inflections, she heard the doorbell ring. She squealed in excitement and ran towards the door, thrusting it open. Kelso stood at the front, Brooke with his arm wrapped around her shoulder. Eric and Donna were behind them, Fez poking his head over their shoulders. _Fez?_ That was a surprise. She didn't imagine he would come. But her eyes only glanced over her friends in the front. Because at the very back, Steven J. Hyde was standing with his back against the wall, hands in his jacket pockets. His shades were on and his lower lip was caught between his top and bottom teeth. His eyes were cast away, down the hall. One of his legs was on the ground, while the other was bent, his foot pressed back against the wall. He was the 'Rebel Without a Cause' of their generation, and Jackie had always loved his picture of coolness. It was perfect. She stared at him. Everyone expected her to be shocked and most likely yell, but all she did was stare, her eyes draining in the image of him. After years of training for her eyes, she was able to see through the dark tint of his glasses as his eyes slid across the wall and landed right on her. His lips parted in the most slight hint of desire and his body stiffened.

"Steven?"

**Author's Note:** So I hope you guys liked it! It was a little shorter than the earlier ones, but I am sooo tired and I have to get up early for Christmas shopping. I got really inspired at the end and couldn't stop. It was also so long since I updated and I didn't want you guys to lose interest. Don't worry, I won't take this long to update again. And I definitely won't abandon this story; I hate when people do that! If I ever make mistakes about details of places or something like that (names for example), please correct me! I don't want my things to be unbelievable. I read a fanfic once where a girl talked about the beaches in Palm Springs and I was like, what? There are no beaches in Palm Springs, it's a desert for Christ sake! Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it and a goodnight to all! Please review!


	6. Important Author's Note

**Author's Note:** So I had previously written a chapter six titled "2000 Light Years From Home". I posted it up here with all intentions of you reading it, but I have decided to rewrite it because I didn't like the direction it was going in (after rethinking and rereading it). So I have already started the re-do and it should actually be done fairly soon. I'm sorry for making you guys wait so long; I just want the story to be perfect.


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